


you are the ocean's gray waves

by Seito



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Crack Treated Seriously, Explosions, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Feels, Fix-It, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-07-14 16:25:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16044152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seito/pseuds/Seito
Summary: “Noctis,” Ignis said, annoyed, “did you sneak a girl into your bedroom?”-.-.-Or sometimes, you need a little outside help to take a prophecy, turn it up side down and smash it into a billion tiny pieces. Regis just wants his son to live, Noctis is trying to come to terms with it all, Cor really could use that drink now, and there is a lot of yelling at Astrals. Also, bonding when explosions are going off is completely acceptable and chaos is the name of the game.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I finished the game and this is my self-indulgent fix it fic that I wanted to write. It was supposed to be pure crack, except FEELS demanded attention too. So here I am. lmao

In his defense, screaming was perfectly acceptable in this particular situation.

Last night had been exhausting. It was just one long meeting that Noctis had been forced to attend. As high school was drawing closer to an end, there had been a subtle push for Noctis to start taking up more and more of his duties as Crown Prince. There was even some noise being made of Noctis moving out of his apartment and back to the Citadel which he stubbornly clung to as hard as he could, but it was looking more and more like a losing battle. (There wasn’t a point to going back to his apartment when the meetings ran late into the night. It was just far easier to crash in his old bedroom in the Royal Wing.)

As a result, Noctis had climbed into his old bed well after midnight and fell asleep, alone.

Only to wake up to a rude surprise of someone sleeping next to him.

So yes. It was perfectly acceptable to fall out of bed, screaming.

Just as he had did so, he realized that person, a girl, was in fact still asleep. Noctis stared at her, rubbing his eyes to make sure she wasn’t some sort of illusion. When she refused to vanished, his thoughts spun. Who in their right mind snuck into the Citadel, pass all the guards, pass Ignis and Gladio who also stayed the night, into his bedroom (without waking him up!) only to fall asleep in his bed?

Apparently this girl.

The doors flung open and Ignis and Gladio rushed in, armed to the teeth and still looking sleep rumpled. They both took one look at the sleeping girl and relaxed.

“Noct,” Ignis said, annoyed, “did you sneak a girl into your bedroom?”

“What?! No!” Noctis protested, completely scandalized by the thought. He vividly remembered the lectures on romantic discretion given by his father, Clarus and Cor. He knew better than to even chance it, much less try and hide it from Ignis. (Ignis knew. He always did. Noctis had no idea how he did it.)

“All those lessons on being discreet didn’t stick,” Gladio said with an amused huff. His broadsword vanished in a flash of crystallized blue magic.

“It didn’t bring her here!” Noctis snapped.

“Too early for this, Asher,” the girl moaned, rolling over. She cracked open one eye to register her surroundings. Then as if struck by a Thunderaga, she snapped wide away, golden eyes going wide as she leap out of the bed, instantly putting some distance between her and Noctis.

“Who are you?” she demanded. “What are yo-…” She trailed off, looking around. “This is not my bedroom,” she said flatly. “Did you kidnap me? I was sleeping for once! Soundly!”

Ignis frowned. “I assure you, we did not kidnap you,” Ignis said, placating.

She didn’t look like she believed him.

“Welcome, Moon Blessed.”

Everyone flinched as Gentiana appeared.

The girl blinked, eyes narrowing. “You’re-“

Gentiana merely opened her eyes. A smile curled on her lips as if holding a secret. “I am Gentiana, High Messenger of the Gods. Welcome to Eos, Moon Blessed.”

The girl snarled, the tension in the room thickening. Pressure weighed down, pushing like relentless gravity. It was enough that Noctis felt his knees behind to buckle under the weight. He cursed, struggling to remain upright. There was something unnatural, not quite human about this girl, highlighted and reflected next to Gentiana.

“And what do the Gods have to do with the fact that I am here?” she demanded, voice razor sharp, words cutting.

“A request,” Gentiana said. Her expression was calm, unwavering. “To teach the King of Kings.”

Noctis felt a chill run down his spine. The King of Kings? Him? He still remembered the stories Luna told him. Stories about his supposed destiny. It always seemed so far away. It loomed further ahead in the murky future, beyond the crown that his father wore. (How could he front his destiny when he was too busy watching his father waste away? Watching as his father’s lifeforce was stolen by the Crystal they swore to protect, and the whispers in the dark of night that told him in order to be a Chosen King, his father would have to die first?)

“Teach him what?” the girl hissed.

Yes. What? Why? Noctis didn’t ask for any of this.

“Anything you’re willing to teach,” Gentiana said.

“And?” the girl asked.

“And when you’re done, you will be returned home,” Gentiana said.

“Do I have your _**word**_ for that?” the girl asked.

Noctis shivered again. There was power behind that question. Something shimmering, a pull of magic, a promise.

“Yes,” Gentiana said.

She vanished, disappearing with a single blink of an eye.

The girl snarled, turning towards them. Her golden eyes glowed, a wild and feral look gleaming in them. “I want an explanation,” she hissed. “Where am I? Who are all of you? And what did she mean by King of Kings?”

Mentally, Noctis flailed about. What was he supposed to do? Gentiana’s appearance s solidified that this girl was an ally, but what did it mean? She was still a stranger. He threw a desperate look at Ignis.

Ignis, ever reliable Ignis, merely pushed his glasses up, surveying the situation at hand. “I think,” he said firmly, “we should probably go see the King about this.”

Ignis always knew what to do.

 -.-.-

Morning always arrived far too soon. Regis laid in bed, hoping it would be a quiet day today. He took a deep breath, feeling the weariness, the weight of the Wall, the weight of the Crown pressing down on him, like a rock on his chest. He wanted nothing more than to stay in bed, sleep the day. He was so tired…

His thoughts were interrupted with a knock.

Regis squeezed his eyes shut, fighting off the groan. It was too early to be dealing with issues.

“Regis,” Clarus said quietly, opening the door. “It’s… well Noctis would like to see you in your private office. There has been an incident.” His brow was furrowed, confused and curious expression.

Regis took Clarus’ reaction that it wasn’t anything dire, but still his heart constricted in fear at the word ‘incident’. What kind of incident?

He quickly sat up, throwing off the covers, reaching for his cane.

“You might as well not get dressed,” Clarus said, this time with amusement. “Everyone else is in their pajamas, much to Ignis’ frustration.”

Regis blinked, curious. He followed Clarus out of the bedroom and down the hallway to his private office. Sure enough, inside was Noctis still in his sleepwear, looking distressed as he paced back and forth. His son threw him a pleading look that Regis didn’t quite understand why he was receiving it.

Off to the side stood Ignis and Gladio, also still in their pajamas. Ignis sighed softly, looking terribly resigned and Gladio was sharing his father’s confused but amused look.

The stranger in the room, and most likely the source of this issue, was the girl. Long brown hair and a dark scowl on her face, she clutched what looked be Noctis’ blanket around her, glaring at everyone.

“Noctis?” Regis asked.

“I woke up with her sleeping next to me,” Noctis blurted out.

Regis winced slightly and understood Ignis’ resigned expression now. Noctis was a young man, going on eighteen and graduating from high school soon. Regis could hardly fault his son for exploring. But he did hope that those lectures on being discreet had stuck and that his son had used protection.

He smiled. “And this is how you want to introduce your girlfriend to me?” Regis lightly teased. In their pajamas, on a morning too early that he was surprised that Noctis was even awake at this hour.

“No!” Noctis said, looking horrified. “Dad! No! I remember those lectures very well and if she was a girlfriend, I would have introduced you to her first!”

That warmed Regis’ heart beyond any measure of love.

“It wasn’t like I wanted to wake up your bed,” the girl said scathingly. “I went to sleep in my own bed, in my own bedroom and I do not appreciate waking up anywhere but there.”

And that made Regis narrow his eyes.

“What exactly is going on?” Regis asked.

“I woke up with her next to me,” Noctis said, with just a edge of desperation in his voice, as if he was begging his father to believe him.

(And that made Regis’ heart hurt. Of course he would believe Noctis.)

“And while we were freaking out about it, because yes I recognize the security breach that it is, Gentiana showed up,” Noctis continued. “And Gentiana said, she’s here to here to teach the King of Kings _something_ and then she can go home.”

It was only years of being king that Regis hadn’t shown an ounce of surprise at the mention of the prophecy. Now he understood Noctis’ desperation. It was one of the many things they did not discuss, much like his failing health. Regis never dared to bring it up and Noctis never asked, and thus his son remained unaware of the truth, of the full extent of the burden he was to carry.

(His heart continued to weep at what the Astrals were asking him to sacrifice. He continued to pray every day that Noctis would be, above all else, happy.)

“It that you?” the girl asked, words scathing and angry.

It was understandable that she was angry. She had been pulled from somewhere and she was lashing out.

“First off,” Regis said, clearing his throat. “I am King Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII. You are?”

Here, her anger softened just a fraction. “Ayame,” she said. “You can call me Ayame.”

She was easily the same age as Noctis, a young teenage girl who probably belonged in high school somewhere. Her parents were probably worried sick, no doubt waking to find their daughter missing. If nothing else, sending word to them that she was fine would be a good first step.

“Welcome to the Kingdom of Lucis, Ayame. This is Insomnia, our Crown City,” Regis said, gently. “May I ask where you hail from? We can send word to your parents of your mysterious arrival here.”

Ayame gave him a skeptical look. “Got a world map?” she asked.

Clarus wordlessly picked off a book from shelf and flipped it open before handing it her.

She took the book, eyes scanning the page. Her expression going pinch. “Yeah that’s what I thought,” she said, slamming the book shut. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not even from this planet.”

Everyone blinked at her.

“I’m from a planet called Earth and just starting from the fact that you call your planet Eos is a big sign that I’m very far from home,” Ayame said, scowl returning to face. “It’s more likely I’m in a parallel dimension than I am from outer space. But it also means there’s no going back until I fulfill whatever the Gods want.”

Her words were bitter and Regis could not blame her for them. (How could he when he cursed the Astrals every day for the burden they placed on his son?)

“So are you going to tell me who this King of Kings is?” Ayame asked, fire igniting in her eyes.

Regis stared at her, weighing his options. But before he could say anything, Noctis beat him to it.

“It’s me,” Noctis whispered, so soft that Regis had to strain to hear it.

How much more bleeding could Regis’ heart take? He felt something in him break, shatter, to hear Noctis acknowledge it.

(His son was growing up. He wasn’t a child.)

Ayame fixed her burning gaze on him. “And why are you the King of Kings?” she asked. “They don’t go throwing around titles like that for fun.”

Noctis threw him another helpless look.

(Because Regis could never tell him the truth, so how could Noctis answer her question?)

Regisi cleared his throat. “We were told by the Astrals that Noctis is the Chosen King, here to usher in the new Dawn.”

It was as close to the truth as he was willing to admit.

Ayame’s eyes narrowed. “And what does the _prophecy_ say exactly?” Ayame asked.

It went so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. This time, unprepared for it, Regis was unable to hide his flinch and Noctis turned to him with a curious look.

‘No, please do not ask me,’ Regis’ begged in his mind, heart wailing.

Confronting, confirming, Noctis’ tragedy, the burden, the blood price, no. All he ever wanted was Noctis to be happy, to be loved. This war may loom at their doorstep, ruin for the kingdom may be just around the corner, the Crystal was draining away his lifeforce and yet the Astrals continued to ask for this sacrifice, for his beautiful son. He never forgave them for that.

(Regis carried so many regrets.)

Ayame merely took a step back, but the fire burning in her eyes told him this conversation was not over.

“Very well. I’ll go do the source,” she said.

Without another word, she stormed pass them. Everyone was too stunned to stop her.

“Dad?” Noctis asked quietly, coming up to him.

Regis reached out to grasp his shoulder, anything to anchor him here, to reassure that Noctis was still here.

“Dad?” Noctis asked again. This time the worry fully bled into his expression.

Regis couldn’t say anything. He knew the secret he carried for so long was going to come out and he couldn’t see a way to shield Noctis any further.

“We should go after her,” Regis said instead.

He was nothing but a coward.


	2. Chapter 2

They found her yelling at the Crystal. Noctis could only stare at the scene in complete bafflement. He spared only a quick glance at the terrified guards who look at his father with a classic ‘oh shit’ expression.

Honestly, this morning had been so strange. Putting aside the fact that he woke up next to a near stranger, Noctis really didn't like the pinched, tired look his father was sporting. His father did so much, and Noctis hated the fact that he had spent the last few years just watching him waste away.

(Somewhere in the back of his heart, he had hoped and wished for those simpler days when he was a child and his biggest fear was the monster lurking under his bed.)

“She's yelling at the Crystal,” Noctis said, returning to the issue at hand with only a touch of disbelief.

Ayame was indeed screaming her lungs out, in a language Noctis couldn’t understand but recognized as the tongue of the Gods, the language of the Astrals. Noctis’ blanket was discarded at her feet and it was almost a comical image of this girl in blue pajamas yelling at a rock.

It was also less foolish that it appeared. Noctis was sure that to everyone else but his father it was strange sight, but he could feel the Crystal surging, the presence of Bahamut, invisible to the eye but very clearly awake. She was definitely talking to the Astral (or well, yelling).

“I think it would be accurate to say she’s yelling at Bahamut,” Regis said with the same quiet awe that Noctis was feeling.

“Yelling at Bahamut?” Clarus asked with alarm.

The yelling finally stopped and Ayame pivoted on her heel, turning to look at them. Her expression was both bitterly angry and resigned and it made Noctis’ heart twist and turn.

(Because how often had he seen that same expression on his father’s face? How often had he seen it in mirror?)

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When they opened again, she seemed more calm. (No, not really. Noctis could see the fire in her eyes, burning so terribly bright, but it was pushed back.)

She marched up to him. “Let’s try this again,” she said. Her words still sounded terrible sharp, but less scathing. Her arms to her side, she gave him a short polite bow. “I am Ayame. I have far too many titles to list, but the apparently the most important one to you is going to be teacher,” she said dryly.

Here a flash of irritation shown in her eyes. “No offense, but your Gods suck,” Ayame said in a flat, unimpressed tone.

There was a hysterical laughter bubbling in Noctis’ chest. Instead he pushed it away, relying on that lessons that every etiquette tutor had shoved down his throat and gave her a crooked smile. “I am Crown Prince Noctis Lucis Caleum. It is a pleasure of meet you, Ayame.” Then because he couldn’t help it, he asked, “How was yelling at Bahamut?”

“Bahamut is a pompous asshole,” Ayame said. “And I’m not done yelling at him.”

“Fearless, aren’t you? To yell at the Astrals,” Regis asked.

Ayame, if possible, looked even more unimpressed. “They’re not _my_ Gods. Not that my Gods aren’t any less of assholes.”

“Shouldn’t you be a little bit more respectful?” Ignis asked. It was only the subtle tell, the furrow of his eyebrows, the slight clenched in his jaw that Ignis hid as he pushed up his glasses that told Noctis that Ignis was worried.

Ayame merely glared. “I’m in a parallel dimension thanks to the whim of your Gods and I’m stuck here until I teach your prince _something_. I’m allowed to be as angry as I can possibly be at this,” she hissed.

“Of course My apologies,” Ignis hastily covered.

“What can we do to help?” Regis asked.

Ayame sighed, anger draining. “Just… point me in the direction for your library. Right now, I know too little about your world, your history, your Gods to do anything and books are easy to consume. If I got questions, I’ll ask.”

“Perhaps a change of clothes and some breakfast would not be remiss?” Clarus said.

Ayame glanced down at her pajamas. “Sure. This morning is already shot to hell.”

That, Noctis could agree with it.

-.-.-

An hour later, Regis and Noctis were back in Regis’ private office. Breakfast had been served and clothes had been changed. Ayame was off to the library with Ignis and Gladio as her guide and guard. Vouched for by the Astrals or not, she was still a stranger. Clarus headed off to meet with Cor to deal with this particular security issue, namely getting papers for her in order.

That left Noctis and Regis alone. Any morning duties had been suspended or canceled. Under normal circumstances it would have been a blessing, to spend time alone with Noctis, but all Regis could feel was the weight of destiny pushing down.

“That was an interesting morning,” Regis said, trying to lighten the mood.

Noctis merely groaned and buried his head in his hands. “Understatement Dad. Understatement.”

Regis chuckled at Noctis’ dramatic words. 

“Are we talking about this now?” Noctis asked, looking at Regis with a tired resignation.

Regis hated that Noctis looked like that. His son was far too young to be so weary and tired.

“Because I don’t want to talk about it, and I know you don’t want to talk about it,” Noctis continued to ramble on. “But what are we supposed to do with her?”

Regis clutched his cane tight and knew that if Bahamut had told Ayame anything about the prophecy, she would probably be the one to tell Noctis the full truth of his burden. Where would it leave them? Would that tired resignation become an everyday expression for Noctis? 

(Would he lose his son’s smile? Aulea’s smile?)

A sharp pain pierced his heart. (When was the last time he actually saw Noctis smile?) His son was growing up too fast. 

“I supposed she’ll just get a semi-permanent guest bedroom in the royal wing,” Regis said. “And she will teach you whatever is supposed to be taught.”

“The prophecy?” Noctis asked.

Regis tried not to crumble. He tried. But… but wasn’t it his duty as Noctis’ father? Before some stranger told him.

“If you ask me, I will tell you,” Regis said.

(Coward.)

“That bad, huh?” Noctis said sadly.

Had Regis cursed the Astrals today? No? Then here was his daily cursing that they demanded Noctis over him.

Regis reached out to cup Noctis’ cheek. “Noctis, I love you son. You’ve always been the light of my sky. _Always_. And I’ve only kept the full truth from you because you deserve to live as happily as you can without the prophecy hanging over your head.”

Noctis crumbled into his father’s arms. Regis pulled him tight and tried not to think that it wasn’t so unsimilar to when Noctis was eight. He was going to lose his son to the Astrals and fate and all the sins and blessings of their forefathers.

“Why don’t we do something fun today?” Regis said. Today was a lost cause on normal paperwork and meetings. Too much revelations between Ayame, the Astrals and Noctis finally having an inkling that his destiny wasn’t so warm and fuzzy.

“Fishing?” Noctis asked quietly.

“Of course,” Regis said.

If the Astrals were going to take his son from him, Regis would fight for every scrap of moment they could have together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still no explosions yet, but I guess we'll get there. Yelling at the gods is a great way to start. And more father son bonding. These two deserved to be happy damnit. 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out. 8D


	3. Chapter 3

Prompto nervously glanced around as he walked down the empty quiet halls of the royal wing. It wasn’t the first time he had visited Noctis at the Citadel instead of his apartment, but it never failed to make him feel like he was intruding on something he wasn’t supposed to be. 

Still he pressed forward. Noctis hadn’t come to school yesterday, had shot off a text that he would be spending the day with his dad. Prompto wasn’t even mad about that. He knew Noctis didn’t get a lot of time with his father. 

But Ignis had requested that Prompto drop off Noctis’ missing homework and any notes from class so that Noctis could catch up over the weekend. So here was Prompto bright and early, wandering the halls before nearly everyone got up. 

He pulled out his phone to take a quick check. Ignis should be up at least. He reached the wing that Noctis, Ignis and Gladio all shared. 

“Hey Ignis,” Prompto said. 

Sure enough there was Ignis, already brewing coffee for the day. The scent of eggs cooking on the stove and dishes laid out. 

“Good morning Prompto,” Ignis said. “You’re early.” 

“And miss out on your food?” Prompto said. “Of course I would be here on time.” 

(Yes, that was the secondary reasoning for getting up at this unholy hour to deliver Noctis’ homework.) 

Ignis chuckled, gesturing to the 4th setting that was already waiting out. “I assumed as much.” 

Ignis was the best. 

“Please do me a favor and give Noctis an early warning that breakfast will be done soon,” Ignis said. “I would let him sleep longer since it is the weekend, but there’s a backlog.” 

Poor Noct. Couldn’t even catch a break for his sleep.

Still Prompto gave Ignis a happy salute and strolled over to Noctis’ bedroom door. He gave it a couple knocks and opened the door, sticking his head inside.

And was rewarded with an unexpected sight. 

“DUDE IS THAT A GIRL?!” 

-.-.-

The evening before, Noctis flopped into his bed with a smile on his face. Spending the entire day with his dad was a rare and precious thing. Something that practically didn’t happen these days with the war continuing to press on, and the Wall weighing his father down. 

They both ignored the dualhorn in the room. An entire day with his dad. He could forgive the chaos Ayame had brought. 

There was twinge of apprehension regarding his new ‘teacher’. What was she going to teach him? According to Gladio she was already halfway through the library. 

_“You should have seen her,” Gladio said, crossing his arms. “When she said books are easy to consume she wasn’t kidding.”_

_“She’s not actually eating them is she?” Noctis asked._

_“No. But she reads faster than coeurl can pounce,” Gladio said. “Took a book and literally flipped through all the pages and said she was done. She was actually reading it too, given every so often she would stop to ask Ignis for clarification.”_

_“Maybe something everyone back at her home can do?” Noctis said._

_“Maybe, but kinda freaky to watch her just clear out book after book,” Gladio said._

Noctis pushed those thoughts out of his head. He would think about it tomorrow, eyelids growing heavy. 

And hours later, woke to the sound of Prompto screaming, “DUDE IS THAT A GIRL?!” 

Noctis snapped awake, twisting and falling out bed _again_. Because sure enough there was Ayame _again_ , sleeping next to him. 

“Ayame?!?” Noctis asked. She was… He knew Gladio had escorted her to her new rooms yesterday. She definitely wasn’t there when he had gone to sleep. “What are you doing here?!” 

And how was she continuing to get into his bed without him knowing?

A pillow went flying in Prompto’s direction who quickly duck. 

“Too early for this,” Ayame groaned, turning over. “Go back to sleep.”

“You’re in my bed!” Noctis protested. 

“Too early!” Ayame said. She pulled his covers over her head and went back to ignoring them. 

“Your Highness?” Ignis peered into room. 

Ayame throws her hands up, covers flying. “Why doesn’t anyone let me sleep?!” 

“My bed!” Noctis protested again. 

“Ayame?” Ignis said alarmed. 

“A girl?” Prompto asked again. 

Noctis felt a headache building. It was definitely too early for this. 

-.-.-

Sleep was good for decompressing. A week later and Ayame felt that murderous edge ebb away like a falling tide. 

(She was however mildly annoyed that no one would actually let her sleep long enough to fully decompress. But since she wasn’t in the mood to explain why Noctis’ bed specifically was the best, she let it go. For now. There would be wards later.) 

So. She was in another dimension. Mostly likely at least. Nothing felt the same. Everything felt different and it set her nerves on edge. The water tasted different, the energy in the air (magic they called it) was crackling, vibrant in a way that was quite dead back home, even just the general feeling of people. 

(This was a world that still believed in Gods.)

On top of that, Bahamut was an asshole. No, really. She had dealt with stubborn gods before, but Bahamut ranked in her top ten. The stupid God of War wouldn’t tell her the prophecy in full or give further instruction as to why she was here and it took everything in Ayame’s power not to punch him in the face. 

(Sure he was massive, but damnit, she could find a way.) 

Yes she was still insanely bitter about being here, but… it was nice. For a royal family, Regis and Noctis were surprisingly down to earth. Maybe it was the mortality that hung over their head like a sword, but Noctis was the farthest thing from spoiled (in the big ways at least, she was impressed that he still held out over his vegetables) and Regis was a dying man who still held on long enough to spend what little time he could with his son while balancing ruling a country. 

There was a lot she didn’t understand. (Because the books hold no answers, no one in their right mind would trust her with state secrets and the damn Gods weren’t saying a world.) Something was draining Regis and he knew it, she knew it, Noctis knew it, everyone knew it. What she didn’t understand was why. 

Maybe that was something she was here to fix too. She added it to her mental list. 

Ignis was a blessing. The man was so knowledgeable and Ayame kinda itched to just pick his brain about all sorts of topics. He was also a fantastic cook. Maybe she could steal him back to her dimension. 

But then again, with the devotion Ignis had to Noctis, that would be just cruel. 

Gladiolus was… a nice contradiction. All that muscle and yet just as well read as Ignis, just on the side of fiction. It was fine for now. 

Prompto reminded her of Asher and that never failed to put a smile on her face. Sunshine incarnate, a big puppy and friendly too. Something clung to him, whispering in the darkness, but it didn’t seem like Prompto was aware of it, so it could stay for now. 

So here she was a week later, having devoured all the books they were willing to impart on her. She spent her meals with Noctis and his friends and spent a lot of time just feeling her way around. Everyone else looked at her strangely, and there was a lot of stuff that remained ‘unsaid’ but overall, it was like they were waiting on her to make a move. 

Which was fine for her. 

The only question was where to start first? 

-.-.-

“So…” Noctis started. Today it was just him and Ayame at breakfast. Ignis had an early meeting which he left for after preparing the meal and Gladio had opt to go home to spend time with his father and sister instead staying in the Royal Wing last night. Prompto rarely stayed over at the Citadel to begin with. 

“How are you adjusting?” Noctis finished lamely. 

It had been a week and well nothing had happened. Not really. Ayame ran through their entire library in record time and just… hung out, somewhere between a noticeable guard and a non-quite friend. 

Prompto had roped her in to King’s Knight after their disaster first meeting and she happily filled the spot whenever one of them were too busy to play. It turned out that Ayame loved video games and easily joined Noctis and Prompto on their late night video game sprees. 

She was smart. That was pretty obvious with the way she was devouring their library. But like, she kept up with Ignis’ multiple tangents and conversations topics. Prompto had even cajole her into helping with their homework assignments. (And to his ever amazement, she actually could, which when you consider she couldn’t have even known about this history a week ago was kinda amazing.) 

But overall, she wasn’t anything like Luna or Gentiana. After that first day, that unworldliness had faded away and she seemed like any other human. 

“I no longer want to murder anyone, so that is an improvement,” Ayame said dryly. 

She also had the strangest humor. Or maybe she just didn’t realize that joking about murdering someone around the Crown Prince caused a lot of people alarm? 

“Don’t let Clarus hear you say that,” Noctis warned. 

“Noted.” 

Noctis fidgeted. 

Ayame rolled her eyes. “Spit it out,” she said. 

(And that would be the one thing she shared with Gladio.)

“What are we doing?” Noctis asked. 

“Excellent question,” Ayame said. “What do you want to do?” 

That wasn’t fair. He couldn’t possibly know what she knew. “Whatever you’re willing to teach,” Noctis said. 

“What you _want_ to do?” Ayame pressed. 

Want? Noctis wanted many things. He selfishly wanted to not be Crown Prince. He wanted to spend more time just hanging out with Prompto. He wanted Ignis to take a break, to just… stop being Noctis’ adviser and more of Noctis’ friend instead of racing towards the inevitable. He wanted Gladio to stop pushing, because usually it was for his own good, but most time it was ill-timed and just made Noctis feel worse. He wanted to see Luna in person. He wanted this war to go away. He wanted his father. He wanted to be just Noctis. 

But it wasn’t meant to be. Because Noctis was the Crown Prince. Because he was this supposed Chosen King (whatever that meant). 

“What I want doesn’t really matter does, not in the grand scheme of things,” Noctis said bitterly. 

Ayame gave him a short look of pity. “Crown Prince or Chosen King, regardless of those titles, what you want should play a part. You deserve to be happy.” 

Noctis felt his defenses crumble. “Do I?” 

Ayame gave him a sad smile. “Yes you do. Everyone does.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gives Noctis all the hugs*
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out. :D


	4. Chapter 4

Regis stepped into his private office after the long council meeting. It felt like nothing but bad news these day. Kingsglaive were barely holding the frontlines down and Niflheim continued its advance. They were losing and it was only a matter of time.

This was the legacy of blood that Regis was going to leave behind wasn’t it? Nevermind the prophecy, Regis would be gifting his son a kingdom on the brink of ruin. He rubbed his hand over the Ring of Lucii and felt the strain of the Crystal continuing to drain.

“You look tired.”

Regis felt his heart jump as he realized he wasn’t as alone as he had thought. “Ayame,” he said.

It had been a month since her arrival. She fit well enough into Noctis’ group of friends, never trailing too far. There were whispers about her, about who she could possibly be. Cor continued to watch her with wariness. Clarus was also reserved about her. Yet despite it all, she had done nothing. Regis understood that despite being given her own rooms, she could always be found the following morning in Noctis’ bed. But beyond her strange arrival, it was as if she was another friend of Noctis simply hanging out.

“What can I do for you?” Regis asked.

“I’ve been pestering Bahamut for a month,” Ayame said flatly. “And looking into further, the other Gods are slumbering or dead.”

Anxiety bubbled in Regis’ stomach.

“So,” Ayame said, golden eyes blazing with that same fire on that first day she had arrived. “Will you please tell me the exact words of the prophecy?”

Regis staggered. It was enough that Ayame had rushed to catch him, easing him into one of the many seats Regis kept in his office.

She sighed once he was seated, shoulders slumping. “Look, I can’t help if I don’t know what I’m working with,” Ayame said. “Exact words, no vague truths.”

Regis felt the tears bubble but refused to let them fall. He wasn’t alone and a King did not publically weep.

He closed his eyes and mourned.

“When darkness veils the world, the King of Light shall come,” Regis said.

“That’s not the fully prophecy because you wouldn’t be reacting like I had gutted you with your sword,” Ayame said.

“That… is the public version,” Regis said. “This is what the Oracle says:

“The Stone, chrysalis to the soul of our star, cradle to the King Destined to serve as vessel of its light. Gods and men alike awaited the coming of the Chosen as they fought to fend off darkness’ blight. For he and he alone would possess the power to purge our star of its scourge. Once the sacred Ring is replete with power, the True King will complete his ascension. Only then can he banish the blight upon our star. By the power of light alone is the Chosen King made manifest. With the Glaive of the Kings, the Stone of Legend, and the Ring of Light in hand, the Chosen’s power will surpass that of even the gods themselves. By that selfsame power, with the True King as its vessel, the darkness shall be purged from our star, and dawn shall return to our world once more.”

“And,” Ayame pressed once more.

Regis smiled bitterly. “This is what Bahamut says:

“The fate of this world falls to the King of Kings. His Providence consecrated in the divine Light of the Crystal, so it is ordained the revelation of Bahamut. The Providence is the sole means to ending the immortal Accursed. A power greater than even that f the Six, purifying all by the Light of the Crystal and glaives of rulers past. Only at the throne can the Chosen receive it, and only at the cost of a life: his own. The King of Kings shall be granted the power to banish the darkness, but the blood price must be paid. To cast out the Usurper and usher in dawn’s light will cost the life of the Chosen. Many sacrificed all for the King, so must the King sacrifice himself for all.”

Silence. And Regis let the tears fall. He hadn’t said that aloud in years, not willing to admit this truth.

Ayame looked at him with dawning realization. That fury that burned so bright snuff out, replaced with a quiet horror. That was the exact thing Regis feared that would happen to Noctis. The weight of the truth would kill his brilliant young boy.

“Noctis is the Chosen King, the King of Kings,” Ayame said slowly.

“Yes,” Regis said, so bitterly and so angry because he would give it all up if it meant that Noctis would be safe.

“Right,” Ayame said, lips pressed into a firm line.

“Please,” Regis begged. “Don’t tell him. Let him be as happy, as normal as a Crown Prince can be until it is time.”

Here Ayame gave him a look full of pity. “Everyone deserves to be happy, but it should also be a **choice**. Ignorance is not always bliss,” she said.

“I will tell him,” Regis said.

(He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.)

“You won’t,” Ayame said. “You love Noctis too dearly to shatter his world like that.”

“Is that wrong?” Regis asked hoarsely. Frustration mounting, the bitterness seeping into his bones. What could he do? What could **he** _do_? Damn to hell the crown, the kingdom, what could he do as Noctis’ father?

“No,” Ayame said softly. “No, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s your duty as his father.” She went silent for the moment, collecting her thoughts.

“I won’t tell him directly,” she said finally. “But in the end, it is Noctis’ choice.”

She gave him a short bow and swiftly left.

Regis bowed his head and mourned.

-.-.-

Noctis grunted as he blowed Cor’s heavy blow. Instead of training with Gladio today, Cor had insisted on evaluating his skills.

And much like Gladio, Cor was relentless and unforgiving. There was no holding back, each blow as heavy as they could be. Noctis felt his arms turn to jelly.

“You can’t be lagging already,” Cor said.

Noctis grit his teeth and dug deep for the extra stamina.

But before he could push back and launch an attack, the training doors flew open and in stormed Ayame.

“Noctis!” she shouted.

She looked every bit of angry as the day of her arrival. Noctis mentally panicked. Why was she angry? Was it because he had won last night’s round of Mario Party? Or maybe the pudding cup? Probably the pudding cup. The pudding cup wasn’t his fault.

“If this is about the pudding cup, it’s Prompto who ate it,” Noctis blurted out.

Ayame faltered. “Prompto? _Prompto_ ,” she hissed.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Wait, that’s not why I’m here,” she said.

“Why are you here?” Cor asked, curious.

“Sorry for interrupting,” Ayame said. “You can go back to beating up Noctis after I have this real quick short talk.”

Cor gave her an amused look, raising his eyebrow but let Kotetsu fade away.

“Ayame?” Noctis asked.

“Three roads lay before you,” Ayame said. “The first will let you be as happy as you can be. Any regrets you will have, is because of ignorance and not out of malice or inability. When the time comes you will step forward with pride, love and hope.

“The second is selfishness. Deny it all and live with the consequences but worry not for another will rise to the occasion. It is a path that will ultimately let you be just Noctis.

“The third is long and painful. It will not be easy and you will struggle every step of the way. But you will _live_.”

Noctis felt as if a cold bucket of icy water was dumped over him. This… this was about the prophecy, the one that his father wouldn’t, couldn’t tell him.

“Ayame,” he started.

She held up her hand, cutting him off. “Think about it and give me your answer tomorrow. Go ask your father, ask Ignis, Gladio, even Cor here. Ask anyone you want to ask, but in the end, you must decide.”

She gave him a sad smile, the same smile when she told him that he deserved to be happy. “It is your choice, Noctis.”

She left, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

-.-.-

A month since Ayame’s arrival and Cor was no less worried than the day of her first arrival. He probably would have been more accepting if she hadn’t appeared in Noctis’ bed.

Given that he remembered guarding Noctis’ cradle when he was a baby, that was an old nightmare coming true.

And then she blew into their training room, delivered the most devastating news she could have delivered. The damn prophecy. The one that would deliver the child he had swore to protect to an early grave.

“Cor?” Noctis asked, so quietly that Cor felt his heart ache. It was like before him was the teenage prince, but rather quiet toddler who wanted his Uncle Cor to chase away the monsters hiding under his bed.

He would be strong, for his prince.

“No more training,” Cor said. “Not in this mindset.”

Regis had told him that Noctis was still unaware of the full details, but aware of the prophecy was not necessary a good thing. And if it was wrecking Noctis just knowing that something terrible loomed for him in the future, then yes Regis was right all these years to keep the truth from Noctis for as long as possible.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cor asked.

He wasn’t the most emotional reassuring person, but if Noctis wanted to talk about it.

“I- I don’t know,” Noctis said, looking deadly pale.

Cor guided him to the empty benches and handed him a bottle of water. Noctis guzzled it down, wiping his mouth.

“Do you know what the prophecy says?” Noctis asked.

Cor braced himself. “Yes.”

“Ignorance is bliss,” Noctis said. “I don’t even know it, I couldn’t ask dad, I knew he wouldn’t tell me, but just knowing it’s something more complicated than what the public knows is scary.”

“If your father could swap places with you, he would have done so in a heartbeat,” Cor said. “You’re the most important person to him, even more than all of Lucis itself.”

“Dangerous thought for a king,” Noctis said with a light laugh.

“Very,” Cor agreed, happy to see Noctis in a better mood. “You’re the light of his sky, Noctis.”

Noctis gave him a watery smile. “What do I choose?”

“Break it down,” Cor said, falling back onto his training. “What do you know?”

“I know it’s about the prophecy,” Noctis said. “I don’t know the prophecy in full.”

Cor braced himself. “Do you need to know the prophecy in full?” If Noctis asked, he would tell him. It should fall onto Regis, but no, let Cor be the bearer of bad news.

“I die,” Noctis said, eyes squeezed shut. “I don’t know what the prophecy says, but the only reason why Dad wouldn’t tell me is because I die somewhere in it.”

Noctis was always frighteningly perspective when he wanted to be.

“The second option is tempting,” Noctis said. “To be just Noctis. But I’ve always been more than just Noctis. If I cannot run and let someone else just take my place. That’s… that’s not befitting a Crown Prince.”

And here was a glimpse of the king Noctis would (should) become. The king he would be, if fate and destiny didn’t destroy it first.

Cor could only feel a swell of pride.

“And?” Cor gently probed.

“She said… I deserve to be happy. But is remaining ignorant really the best option here?” Noctis asked.

“Do you want to remain ignorant?” Cor asked. There was some bliss in just, not knowing. Maybe not all the time, but growing up was learning about the harsh realities of life. Sometimes too much knowledge was paralyzing. It was the reason why Cor didn’t always tell his men every little detail about their mission. It was why very few know the truth about the MTs.

“What I want doesn’t really matter does, not in the grand scheme of things,” Noctis said bitterly.

“You cannot always sacrificing everything for your mantle as Prince,” Cor said gently. “It’s okay to be selfish, Noctis. Maybe not about everything, but it’s okay if you want your father, if you want more time to think, if you want to eat those ridiculous unhealthy sweets.”

Too young. Noctis was too young to deal with destiny, fate and Gods. He would always be too young in Cor’s book.

Too young to die to save the world.

Cor had the sinking suspicion that unless he died on the field, he would outlive his King and Prince. The Crystal would claim Regis, the Gods would claim Noctis and it was always when he looked back at that, that he hated the ridiculous nickname others had bestowed upon him.

(What good was immortality if you watch everyone you love and care about die before you?)

He watched Noctis continue to woolgather, no doubt thousands of thoughts swimming through his head.

“Ayame said the something similar,” Noctis finally said. “That what I want should still play a part, regardless of the titles given to me.”

Cor felt his respect of the strange girl rise a little bit.

“Thanks Cor,” Noctis said, getting to his feet. “I think I’m going to go back to my room.” He looked tired, weariness written all over his face. Cor felt his heart squeeze at how similar to his father he currently looked.

(Destiny was not kind to the Lucis Caleum Line.)

“Anytime, Noctis,” Cor said.

He didn’t know what Noctis had decided, alone in his thoughts. But Ayame was had a point. It had be Noctis’ choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here we get the ball rolling.
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out


	5. Chapter 5

Happiness. Wants. Love. Selfishness. Life. 

Noctis’ head is swimming in thoughts. Things he had only considered in the deepest darkest part of his heart. Those dark whispers he never voiced, always choking on the words, locked into his throat. 

A choice. 

What did he want? 

“Whoa, you okay, Your Highness?” 

Noctis blinked, recognizing the worried expression of Nyx Ulric, the best of his father’s Kingsglaive. “Hey Nyx,” he said, wearily. “I’m fine.”

Nyx frowned, placing a hand on Noctis’ shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. “Try again or I’m going to haul you off to infirmary.” 

“I’m fine,” Noctis said. “Just a lot on my plate.” 

“Anything I can help with?” Nyx offered. 

Noctis hesitated. He shouldn’t. Such knowledge about the prophecy shouldn’t be so easily spread around but… but Nyx was one of his father’s best and Noctis liked Nyx. The man was his warping teacher and a frequent guard that Noctis more than tolerated. Plus Noctis knew that there was no way Nyx knew about the prophecy. Maybe an unbiased opinion wouldn’t hurt. 

“Got asked a philosophical question,” Noctis said, proud that his voice didn’t waver. “Three choice, the first is happiness but possibly ignorance, the second is selfishness and consequences but let’s me be just me, and the third is pain but living.” 

Nyx nodded. “Not used to be asking philosophical questions?” he joked. “Don’t worry, I’m pretty bad with them too.” 

“No… not used to having to factor in my wants over what’s good for the kingdom,” Noctis quietly confided. 

Nyx flinched and gave Noctis another squeeze. “Libs just needs to spend like five minutes with you and he’ll finally get why I’m so damn protective of you,” Nyx said. 

Noctis flushed, eyes ducking to the ground. 

“Want my opinion?” Nyx asked. 

Noctis nodded. 

“The third,” Nyx said. “Happiness is great, but ignorance not so much. You can be you without being selfish. Pain is inevitable, but it’s proof that you’re still alive. And if you’re alive, you can keep walking towards the future, to another day of being happy, to another day of being you.”

Leave it to Nyx to break it down so simply. 

“I had that choice before,” Nyx said with a twisted broken smile. 

Noctis gave him a questioning look. 

“I could have died that day back in Galahad,” Nyx said. “I was happy up until that day, living in ignorance over the fact that Empire was knocking on the door. I could have been selfish, could have not joined Kingsglaive, found a spot somewhere in Crown City and just be me. But I picked Kingsglaive, because I believe I’m fighting for a good cause. Maybe that’s a little foolish, I could die any day on the frontlines. And it hurt to get to this point, I struggled to master the magic your father shared with us, I’ve bled, I’ve broken bones, I’ve got more scars than I could think of, but I am still alive. 

“And that means tomorrow I can save someone, and that their future can continue on forward.”

Noctis took in a deep breath. Oh. 

_Oh_. 

In that context… He could continue to remain ignorant about the prophecy. Maybe the prophecy said he was supposed to die, maybe not. He didn’t know for sure, but ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away. It was going to come down eventually, and Noctis would have no choice to but face it. 

He could reject the prophecy and let it fall to another Chosen King. But could he live with himself, with whatever the future held? Given the dramatics of the prophecy there was no way the death toll wouldn’t be so ridiculously high. 

He could accept the prophecy and then try to work it to his advantage. It was a prophecy, was it set in stone? Even if it was, maybe just knowing would be enough. Maybe he was supposed to die young, maybe he was supposed to die old. He could leave no regrets behind, know how much time was left and every scrap and bit he could spend with his friends and father. 

“Thanks Nyx,” Noctis said. “I think I know what my answer is.” 

“Anytime kid.” 

-.-.-

“The third.”

Ayame looked up from book she was flipping through. “I gave you until tomorrow,” she said.

Noctis smiled. “It wouldn’t change it. The third road, Ayame. I rather know what to expect and then… use that time as wisely as I can to live my life to the fullest.” 

He felt confident in that choice. It would be painful to hear the prophecy, but what was happiness with eventual regrets, even if he wanted to be ‘just Noctis’, he was still a Crown Prince and he had a duty to his people. 

“Wise words,” Ayame said. “And honestly, the choice I wanted you to make.” 

“Then why ask?” Noctis questioned. 

“That’s how I can tell you’re a Prince,” Ayame grumbled. “It should be _**your choice**_. Screw whatever the Gods say. If you want to martyr yourself, fine I won’t stop you. If you want to reject the prophecy, I’ll help you. All I want is you to _choose_ without any regrets what you _want_ to do with your life.” 

Noctis felt his heart warm at that statement. “Thanks Ayame.” 

“Don’t thank me yet,” Ayame said dryly. “I promised you it would be painful.” 

Noctis took a deep breath. “Right, so, tell me. What does the prophecy say?”

Ayame gave him a sharp look. “You must be the one to kill ‘The Accursed One’.”

Noctis waited. When she said nothing else, he asked, “That’s it?” 

Ayame snorted. “There’s other nonsense about you dying to save the world, but we’re throwing that window.” 

Noctis gave her a skeptical look. “You can do that?”

“First lesson, 90% of the time prophecies are self-fulling. The more you try to prevent the prophecy, the more likely they’re to come true,” Ayame said, scoffing. “So knowing the prophecy doesn’t help you. Second lesson, Gods are fucking assholes and at the end of the day, they don’t fucking care how it’s gets done, just that it does. 

“The main part of the prophecy is that only by your hand can this world be rid of the Accursed One. The dying part comes into play because it is the price for the power to get rid of the Accursed One. So if you can get rid of the Accursed One without using the power described in the prophecy-”

“I don’t have to die?” Noctis said. He felt hope blossom in his chest. Was it really that simple? 

“That’s the basic theory for it, yes,” Ayame said. “Language. The Gods are often literal, but we humans can find different nuances in the words used.” 

“So who is the Accursed One?” Noctis asked. 

“No clue,” Ayame said, her words turning sickeningly sweet as her smile turned increasingly sharp, teeth bared. “Bahamut won’t tell me a single thing and I’ve been pouring over your history for a month now, because usually anything warranting a prophecy is mentioned somewhere in history.” 

“So back to yelling at Bahamut?” Noctis asked with a touch of amusement. 

“I spent every day yelling at him,” Ayame said dryly. “I’m thinking it’ll be easier to go wake the other Gods up and shake them down for answers.” 

Noctis briefly wondered if Luna would know. Or Gentiana at least should right? He made a note to ask the next time Umbra showed up. 

“And this power I’ll need?” Noctis asked. 

“Something stronger than the Six,” Ayame said.

Noctis blanched, hope crumbling away. “Is that even possible?”

“You’ll be surprised,” Ayame said. “But like I said, don’t thank me yet.” She closed her book and gave Noctis a look. “We should probably get started now. You’re graduating soon from high school and that means exams, so time is short.” 

A wave of dread fell over Noctis. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” he asked warily. 

Ayame snorted. “You’re only figuring that out now?”

Fuck. 

-.-.-

Double fuck. 

Noctis gasped, struggling to breathe as he turned over to his side. His world spun, dark spots dancing in his vision. Ayame was relentless. He didn’t think it was possible, but she was worse than Cor, Gladio and Nyx all rolled together. 

“An hour. That’s not terrible,” Ayame said. “But not surprising since you did have some formalized training all your life.” 

Noctis felt like his chest was burning as he strained to breathe. His magic was sluggish and drained, to the point that he was in stasis. Everything hurt, pain throbbing from everywhere. 

“You’re a tyrant,” Noctis wheezed out. 

“I warned you,” Ayame said flippedly. “Come on. Shower, food and rest. You still have school tomorrow.” 

She held out her hand to help him up. Noctis feebly grasped it and felt a rush of power. It wasn’t unlike an ether but it was strictly different. 

“What is that?” Noctis asked wearily. 

“My version of healing,” Ayame said. “I’ll need more tests to figure out how compatible your magic is to mine and what I can and cannot teach you, so we’ll focus on your physical abilities for now.” 

“You’ve got magic?” Noctis asked. He hadn’t notice. 

Ayame waved her free hand dismissively. “It’s not called magic in my world, but for simplicity’s sake, it’s easier to call that for your understanding.” 

Noctis blinked. She had magic and hadn’t shown any signs of it. “Just how strong are you?” Noctis asked. 

Ayame gave him amused look. “One of my titles back home is Godslayer.” 

_**Oh.**_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a review on your way out :D


	6. Chapter 6

Regis woke, a crushing feeling of the brand new day weighed heavily on the chest. Or well, that was what he had assumed was the weight. 

No, instead of the heavy emotional weight, there was an arm thrown across his chest. Regis blinked, realizing that Noctis was snuggled next to him.

“Noctis?” Regis asked. 

Noctis grumbled sleepily, pressing his face into Regis’ shoulder and refused to open his eyes. “Ayame is a tyrant. She woke me up at dawn.” 

Regis chuckled. “Is that so?” 

“Worse than Cor, Gladio and Nyx combined,” Noctis grumbled. He let out a yawn. “She’ll check your room last.” 

He dozed off, breathing evening out.

Regis smiled, pressing a kiss to Noctis’ forehead. They could rest for longer. 

-.-.-

“Dude are you okay?” Prompto asked. 

Noctis had shown up to school utterly exhausted and a dark look. He had already missed first period and Prompto spent his time checking his phone constantly for a reason why. Usually someone, Ignis or Noctis himself, would text explaining why Noctis wasn’t coming to school. 

His worries were set aside when Noctis slide into his seat during second period and then returned at full force once he finally got a good look at his best friend.

“Ayame is a tyrant,” Noctis said, resting his head on the table. 

Prompto blinked, amused. “What did she do? Keep you up all night with video games?” 

Ayame was, in Prompto’s opinion, pretty fun to hang out with. Sure he knew about her strange arrival and her supposed duty to teach Noctis something. (And wasn’t that strange to have a tutor the same age as them? Ignis was easy to picture. His obvious adult-like appearance aside, he was still a few years older.) But she seemed pretty cool and Prompto knew that Noctis liked that Ayame didn’t treat him like a prince. 

Actually she treated everyone as equals, paid no attention to titles and coolly stared down the Gods. Prompto couldn’t help but admire her for that. He was fine not giving any special attention to Noctis (he knew that Noctis liked that especially) but he still got tongue tied at being in the same room as King Regis.

“She’s worse than Cor, Gladio and Nyx combined,” Noctis whined. “She got me up at dawn!”

Prompto cooed. “Aww cutting into your beauty rest?” 

Noctis gave him a glare. “Just for that you can join me for afternoon practice with her.” 

Prompto chuckled. “Sure. It can’t be that bad.” 

Famous last words.

-.-.-

Two hours after school had ended, Prompto was on the ground gasping. Noctis wasn’t do any better, panting next to him. 

“Dude, you were right,” Prompto said in between gasps. His legs were killing him, muscles burning and the numerous nicks, bruises and cuts were starting to sting. “She’s a tyrant.”

“Told you,” Noctis said tiredly, trying and failing to brush back his hair. There was cut on his face, a thin line of blood dripping down his cheek. 

“Prompto lasted longer than I expected,” Ayame said mildly. “Twenty minutes for this exercise isn’t terrible though.” 

“Who decides to use real daggers for dodging training!?” Prompto asked. He didn’t want to know how or why she was deadly accurate with them either. 

Noctis’ warping hadn’t help him either. Ayame was knocking him out of air, mid-warp and throwing him around like a rag doll. Prompto lost count of how many times Noctis had been thrown at him, sending them both flying across the training field. 

“Tyrant,” Noctis said. 

“If you got energy to insult me, you got energy to continue,” Ayame said, balancing a dagger on her finger. 

Prompto and Noctis immediately shut up. 

“That’s what I thought,” Ayame said with cheer. “I supposed that’s it for now. You still have homework to do.” 

Prompto groaned. Homework, how he was supposed to do homework? He just wanted to crawl into bed and crash for the day!

Noctis was totally right. Ayame was a tyrant. 

-.-.-

Regis was beginning to get used to the fact that his private office wasn’t so private anymore.

“Hello Ayame,” he said. 

She gave him a wave from his comfy office chair, flipping through a book that was clearly snatched off from Regis’ bookshelf. 

He tried not to think too hard about the family secrets that were locked in this particular office and shouldn’t be open to anyone. He also tried not to think about the type of security breach she was because this office was warded with the Crystal’s magic and should be impossible to break into without his implicit permission. 

“You sound more rested today,” Ayame said, not looking up from the book. 

“Better than Noctis,” Regis said lightly. “I understand you woke up him at dawn?” 

“No time like the present to get started,” Ayame said. “I knew it was your room he was hiding in.”

She rolled his eyes. “It was only a few laps.” 

Considering what Noctis was complaining about, it wasn’t just a few laps. It was several hundred laps, sit ups, and push ups. Regis had half a mind to call him in sick to school, but Noctis waved it off saying final exams were coming up. 

“Please don’t push him too hard,” Regis said. 

“He can handle it,” Ayame said. 

Regis sighed. It was hard enough to keep Gladio from getting too overly enthusiastic with his training of Noctis. And he knew Noctis would dig in his heels if pushed too hard. Or stubbornly go with it. 

“If he hasn’t told you, he does have old injuries that give him some issues,” Regis warned. 

“Ah, the Marilith attack,” Ayame said with a hum. “I was wondering if there was lasting injuries from that. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Regis felt his heart skip a bit, remembering that night. 

“What are you doing here, Ayame?” Regis said, feeling so terribly old and worn out.

Ayame looked up from the book she was reading. “I respect you enough that I’m asking for permission. This is the only time I’ll ask for permission,” she said. 

“Permission for what?” 

“I want to know in detail how Lucian magic works, your connection to the Crystal, the Ring of the Lucii, anything related,” Ayame said. 

Regis staggered, knees buckling. Ayame leapt out of the chair to catch him, mimicking their same position from yesterday when she asked about prophecy. 

“You never do anything by half, do you?” Regis asked. Why, by the Six, did she want to know about that?

“Not really,” Ayame said mildly. “I mean I’m at least asking for permission even though I know the books to the left of me contain a good wealth of knowledge. Also Bahamut is being an asshole who won’t tell me anything about it either. You can tell me no, but I’m going to be targeting those books next no matter what you say.” 

“Why must you know?” Regis asked, as if they weren’t a closely guarded family secret. There would always be speculations. His council and other trusted friends knew the basics, but the full extent was never explained to anyone but family. 

“Well the prophecy says all three of those things play a part and I need to know how much power output we’re talking about so I can find an appropriate substitute,” Ayame said. 

“Substitute?” Regis asked. What could possibly substitute the Crystal? 

“I see Noctis hasn’t mentioned that yet. Well he’s been a bit out of it,” Ayame said with a wave of her hand. “But you realize that if Noctis doesn’t used those three things and still manages to get rid of the ‘Accursed One’, he doesn’t have to die.” 

W-what? For the first time in nearly thirteen years, Regis a danger hope burst in his chest. There… was a way out of it? Out of that damn prophecy? 

He reached out to grab her hand, bowing his head to her fingers and for the second day in a row, let the tears fall. “Thank you,” he whispered feverently. 

She gave him a twisted look of discomfort. “If we can’t find or make an appropriate substitute, it’ll remain nothing but a theory,” Ayame warned. 

“Still, I’ve prayed every day for another solution, begged the Gods to let me take Noctis’ place and no matter how hard I searched for another way, the prophecy remained an absolute,” Regis said. “No matter how small, if there is a chance that Noctis can walk away _**alive**_ , I will do anything.” 

Ayame tilted her head, give him a strange look. “You know…” she said slowly. “I’m starting to figure out why exactly I’m here.” 

Regis blinked. 

“If your Gods wanted to make your son into a martyr, there are other like me, who would have been all too happy to help with that,” Ayame said. “But me? It doesn’t matter how much power I have, how much I respect the gods, at the end of the day, I’m a very selfish human. I don’t care what a prophecy says, what I care about is that everyone I care about walks away alive.” 

She gave him a fond eye roll. “I’m starting to think your prayers were so strong, they dragged me here. Certainly explains why Bahamut remains stubbornly silent when I thought he was part of the reason why I’m here.” 

It took everything in Regis had to not break down completely. Instead he squeezed her hand tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered. “ _Thank you_.” 

He clung to that small but growing hope. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> butterfly wings everywhere~~
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out


	7. Chapter 7

Gladiolus woke early. Not terribly unusual, but he had risen before Ignis had and that in itself was rare. (Not really, since Ignis had planned a later start today.) 

But it was a blessing, because out in the shared living room was Ayame. It was strange to see her up this early, but perhaps not. Yesterday she had thrown Noctis out his bed at dawn and dragged him out for some early morning training. Then she capitalized his time yesterday afternoon, adding Prompto to the mix. 

Gladio hadn’t seen Noctis so wiped out since… well never. Noctis wasn’t the most motivated person and his training was met with the bare minimum effort. It was something that drove Gladio up the wall. So these last two days had been rather strange. Ayame woke up Noctis, but despite his grumbling, Noctis would follow after her and come back so exhausted and drained, Gladio was beginning the creeping feeling that he was being kicked out of his spot as Noctis’ trainer.

“Good morning, Ayame,” he said.

Ayame gave him a mischievous grin. “Good morning Gladio.” 

“Planning on waking Noctis and Prompto up?” Gladio asked, gesturing to what looked like a bucket of ice cold water. 

“Well this is the threat if they don’t start moving after my first warning,” Ayame said innocently. “Don’t worry, I’ll help Ignis clean up the mess.”

That was good of her but…

“Spit it out,” Ayame said, giving him an amused glance. “You look like you clearly want to ask me something.”

“What are you doing? And I’m out of a spot as Noctis’ trainer?” Gladio asked, crossing his arms and trying not to feel too defensive. He knew that Ayame was supposed to teach Noctis something. If she decided it was training, he would bow out for now. 

He liked Ayame. Before he hadn’t warmed up properly to the idea of her. She was an unknown threat after all; magically appearing out of nowhere and vouched for by the gods. Gladio didn’t take unknown threats towards his Prince and future King very well. But she had proven to be relatively harmless in the grand scope of things. In fact, it was a bit like looking at another Prompto. She slot in well enough into their little group. 

Ayame liked those same video games that Prompto and Noctis liked. Kept up with Ignis’ various topics (which was something Gladio knew Iggy appreciated). She didn’t even tease him over his books and asked for suggestion and maybe they spent a little too much time arguing over the characters and their relationships.

He did know that Ayame was jackshit at understanding people’s relationships. Oh she got the basics down, but the deeper understanding of drama, that illogical ‘why’ people did what they did, seemed to escape her. She took the relationships described in the book at their face value and understood whatever was written but didn’t understand what wasn’t said. Gladio was happy that she wasn’t apart of the actual royal court; the court drama would swallow her whole and Gladio shoved her into the same spot as Prompto, someone who needed to stay as far away from other nobles.

(But for vastly different reasons. Prompto would faint on the spot, worked up by his nerves. Gladio was certain that Ayame would just insult everyone she meet and not care. Normally Gladio wouldn’t care but it was beginning to become his job with Ignis to help smooth out the ruffled feathers. Making sure Noctis didn’t step on anyone’s toes was already hard enough.) 

Ayame tilted her head and gave him a puzzled look. “No?” she said. “You can go ahead and train Noctis like you normally do.”

“You’ve been dragging him around and running him into the ground that I feel bad for adding more,” Gladio said. “And Noctis is letting you. He’s never this serious about training. What did you do?”

Ayame opened her mouth and then closed it frowning. “Huh, I guess he hasn’t said anything,” she said. 

“Said what?” Gladio said, dread beginning to grow in his stomach. 

Ayame waved her hand. “I mean, I supposed it’s partly my fault. I haven’t exactly let him have any time long enough to actually tell you. Alright, we should fix this cause I don’t want it hovering unsaid for too long and if I let Noctis have it his way, he wouldn’t say anything about it.”

“What?” Gladio asked. 

“We should make sure Ignis can hear this too,” Ayame said. “So go wake up Ignis and I’ll go wake up those two sleepyheads.” 

Gladio had the sinking suspicion he wasn’t going to like what she said. 

-.-.-

Ignis took a moment not to sigh too hard. For once he had planned to get more than four hours of sleep. Or at least that was his intent. He had no meetings this morning and Gladio had said he would take Noctis (and Prompto) to school. 

So to be awaken at the crack of dawn by Gladio was both annoying and fear inspiring. Was something wrong? Gladio was just lecturing him on taking care of his health the night before. What could possibly make Gladio wake him up early on the one day Ignis had planned to sleep in?

Gladio had simply shaken his head and told Ignis to get dress. Not urgent then. 

Ignis got out of bed, reaching for his glasses. He carried through his routine swiftly, getting dressed and preparing for the day. If he was up at this hour, he might as well prepare breakfast. 

As he exited his bedroom and into the sharing living space of this wing, he found a drowsy Noctis sleeping with his head on the dining table and Prompto blinking bearily and rubbing his eyes. Gladio sat across from them, arms crossed, looking at the kitchenette.

Ayame was cooking. 

“Ayame?” Ignis asked. “Do you need help?”

“No, I’m good,” Ayame said. “You might as well sit, I’m almost done.” 

Ignis took his seat, all too relieved that he wasn’t required to help even as the guilt gnawed at him that he should be. 

“Noct?” Ignis asked, reaching out, lightly threading his fingers through Noctis’ hair. 

Noctis batted his hand away. “Too early,” he mumbled. 

“Everything hurts,” Prompto whined pitifully. He stretched his neck, rubbing his shoulder. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do my morning run. I can’t believe I slept this late.” 

“Early,” Noctis muttered sleepily. 

“You get up this early, Prompto?” Ignis asked, mildly surprised. 

Prompto gave him a tired grin. “Best time to go jogging.”

Gladio grinned. “Kid’s right. I’ve joined him a couple times.” 

“Just what were you two doing yesterday?” Ignis asked. 

Ayame had dragged back them both back yesterday. Prompto and Noctis looked like they had been out in the wilderness, hunting for days. They were barely awake, nearly falling asleep through dinner, much less a shower before they crashed completely into sleep. 

“Ayame is a tyrant,” Prompto said. “So mean.” 

“I heard that!” Ayame shouted over her shoulder. 

“Actual sharp daggers!” Prompto shouted back. 

“Noisy,” Noctis whimpered. 

“If you can’t handle real daggers how are you going handle live combat? Plus they were from the weapon storage in the training, the blades were dulled!” 

“They weren’t dull considering how much little cuts I got!” 

Ayame rolled her eyes, setting down the first two trays. A plate of grilled fish, a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup and some sort of egg were on it. Ignis surveyed the dishes carefully. Interesting combination choice. 

“I’m not that good of a cook,” Ayame said. “But it should be acceptable.” She reached over and flicked Noctis in the forehead. “Up sleepyhead. Breakfast is ready.” 

Noctis yawned, sitting up right. Ignis slid one of the trays towards him and the other to Prompto as Ayame returned with two more trays. 

“Why are we awake this early,” Noctis asked with a yawn. 

“Because your friends don’t know about the prophecy,” Ayame said plainly. 

Prophecy? Ignis frowned. He was aware that Noctis was the Chosen King, but there wasn’t much direct information regarding it. King Regis said Noctis would come into the prophecy on his own time. 

Noctis snapped wide awake to Ignis’ surprise. All that tiredness faded away and a look of distress appeared on his face. “Ayame,” he pleaded. 

Ignis felt his heart sink. What could possibly cause Noctis that kind of distress? 

“Prophecy?” Prompto asked. “What prophecy?”

“There’s a prophecy about Noctis being the Chosen King who will usher in a new dawn,” Gladio said. 

“No way,” Prompto said, nudging Noctis with his arm. “That’s so cool dude. Like one of our video games.” 

Noctis, if possible, only grew paler. 

The dread Ignis was feeling only got worse. He didn’t like Noctis’ reaction. It spoke that the prophecy was far more sinister than he previously thought. Ignis cursed himself. He should have looked into more closely. 

“Noct?” Gladio asked, clearly beginning to pick up on Noctis’ mood. 

“You okay?” Prompto asked. 

“Ayame,” Noctis crocked, voice trembling. 

She reached over to flick his forehead once more. “Are they are or they not your friends?” she asked. 

Noctis hissed, rubbing his forehead. “Of course they are!” he snapped back at her. 

“Then trust them with this,” Ayame said with a huff. 

Noctis just fell apart at her words. Ignis reached out to grab his hand, running his thumb over Noctis’ knuckles as Prompto leaned against Noctis’ side and Gladio grabbed Noctis’ other shoulder. 

Ignis felt his stomach twist into knots. What could the prophecy say that had Noctis this twisted up? 

“I-I can’t,” Noctis said. “Ayame, I can’t.” 

Ayame sighed softly. “I swear, you and your father share some of the strangest traits,” she muttered. 

“Ayame,” Ignis started. 

She held up a hand to cut him off. 

Ignis bit back his words, his temper beginning to build. This was about Noctis! 

“To summarize, the prophecy says that Noctis must kill the Accursed One, the source of the Starscourge. To do this, he will need a power greater than the Six and in exchange for this power, he will die,” Ayame said flatly. 

Ignis felt as if he hit by a car, plowed over and rammed, a punch harder than Gladio could even imagine. Die…? Noctis? No, no, no. That was impossible. Not Noctis. 

“W-what?!” Prompto said, reacting first. 

“No,” Gladio said coldly. “I refuse to accept that. There has to be another way.”

“Well, that’s why I’m here,” Ayame said with an amused lilt. “The working theory is that if Noctis doesn’t use the power described in the prophecy but still manages to get rid of the Accursed One, then he won’t have to die.” 

She looked at them solemnly. “What I need you to be aware of is that it is a theory and that Noctis will need your help to make sure it works instead of following what the prophecy says.” 

“Of course,” Ignis said. Was there any question?

“Yeah!” Prompto agreed. “There’s no way we’re a prophecy determine that Noctis is going to die.” 

“Yeah,” Gladio said. 

“Guys,” Noctis whispered with relief. 

Ayame smiled. “Power of friendship is a thing,” she said, amused. 

“What must we do?” Ignis asked. 

Ayame waved her hand dismissively, moving back to the kitchen to grab some toast. “For now, eat breakfast, talk it out and in your case Ignis, we’ll figure out a schedule soon. I know final exams and graduation are coming up.” 

“Where are you going?” Gladio asked. 

“You’re not joining us for breakfast?” Prompto asked. 

“No training?” Noctis asked quietly. 

The room went silent. 

Ignis resisted the urge to let out a hiss. Noctis was notorious lazy, but whenever you lit the correct fire, he would throw himself into fixing the issue at hand until he burned out. 

“We are going to have a talk about limits,” Ayame announced. “And no, Gladio pointed out I ran you into the ground these last two days, and muscles do need to rest.” She took a bite of her toast. “So you four talk it out, go to school, Noctis and Prompto, and Ignis I’ll be back to talk schedule.” 

She wandered away without another word, door clicking shut after her. 

Ignis pushed it out of his mind. Right now his focus is Noctis and his friend looked like he was ready to fall apart. 

“Ignis,” Noctis said. 

And then it was like they were nine and ten again and Ignis was still trying to coax a healing Noctis out of bed, shielding him from his nightmares. He came so close to losing Noctis once, he wouldn’t again. 

“I swear Noctis, we’ll get this through,” Ignis promised. 

He refused to accept anything less. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww these dumb boys now know what they have to face together.
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out


	8. Chapter 8

“Is this going to become a regular occurrence?” Regis asked.

Ayame munched on her toast, reading one of the many family tomes about magic, pilfered straight from Regis’ bookshelf. She raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn’t give an answer.

“I will take that as a yes,” Regis said. He had woken up to find Ayame in his bedroom (but thankfully not in his bed). Was this what Noctis dealt with every morning? He was beginning to understand Noctis’ reaction.

Ayame waved a hand, flipping through the book and shutting it closed. “I’m giving the boys space. Also I made breakfast.” She pointed to the dishes laid out.

“Space?” Regis asked, sliding in the seat next to her. He surveyed the dishes she had laid out. Interesting, he didn’t know she could cook. It was probably safe to eat.

Ayame munched on her toast. “Noctis doesn't understand limits, can’t communicate his thoughts, and is going to burn himself out this rate. Also I don’t do emotional heart to heart talks well, so best to let the boys work it out.”

Regis blanched. “Ayame.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure they can figure it out,” Ayame said. “I’ll work something out with Ignis about schedule. I more or less have a good grasp on what he can and cannot do.”

Regis pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please don’t overdo it,” Regis said.

“Mmmm Noctis and Prompto have finals coming up,” Ayame said. “I might just take a trip to see what I can dig up while they study for their finals.”

“A trip?” Regis asked.

“Your kingdom is larger than Insomnia no?” Ayame said, waving her hands. “And I want to take a good look at what’s out there, see whatever daemons people keep mentioning, this starscourge, and basically see if I can’t shake down an Astral or two.”

“I’m going to insist you take Cor with you,” Regis said. “Not only can he show you around, he’s one of the few people who can handle any daemon thrown his way. I do not want you venturing off by yourself, as you simply do not know what’s out there.”

Ayame gave him a skeptical look.

“I insist,” Regis said more firmly.

She huffed. “Very well.”

-.-.-

“Ayame.”

Ayame looked up from her phone. (Technology here was so different, yet so similar. It was a nice comfort, really, once she picked up the new lingo. Plus the phone gave her access to Insomnia's internet! She spend days traveling through it, though to her disappointment, it actually wasn't as extensive as the one back home, for better or worst. She certainly couldn't reach anything out in Gralea at least. Shame.)

“Yes Ignis?” she said.

The older teenager looked, well, tired. Ayame supposed whatever the boys had discussed about the prophecy this morning over breakfast had driven the point home and broke them. It was only a matter of waiting to see who would reforge themselves into someone _doing_ instead of someone _despairing_.

Judging by the grim look of determination, Ignis Scientia had reforged himself.

“What must be done to prevent Noctis' destiny?” Ignis asked.

“I don’t have an exact plan yet,” Ayame said. That was a lie. She had 100s of plans, overturning and refining in her head. Her biggest obstacle here was simply her lack of information. She was still acclimating to Eos, to what it had, what it could offer, what were the abilities and limitations.

The books she read had only given her a small slice of the information she needed. The issue was, they were all primarily Lucian based, with Lucian biases. History was written by the victors, and she needed to know Niflheim’s side too. What was erased from history, what was exaggerated, what was covered up. There were so many secrets to uncover.

If she wanted to, she could track down the Accursed One and kill them. It wouldn't be the first time she fought and killed someone who was immortal. Gods, demons, spirits, that was just part of the job. The tricky thing was that prophecies often had a grain of truth and she didn’t know what kind of fallout would happen, if Noctis didn’t deliver the final blow.

The world could end. The Accursed One could come back. The apocalypse could come upon them. Noctis could still die.

The question was did she really care?

If she returned back to her world, did it really mattered what happened here?

_“Do I?” Noctis asked._

Ayame mentally sighed, remembering Noctis’ broken expression when he had asked if he really deserved to be happy. She wasn’t… she wasn’t drawing parallels.

Oh by Inari-sama’s sake, she was getting _attached_.

“Is… is there anything I can assist with?” Ignis asked.

Ayame weighed her options before gesturing to the seat next to her. “You’re Noctis’ adviser, which means you got a nice tactical reasoning in that head of yours. Let’s see if you can fill me in the on the gaps I’m missing.”

Ignis took a seat, producing a notepad and pen from his jacket. Always prepared. Excellent trait.

“I know that Noctis and Prompto have finals coming up in two weeks,” Ayame said.

Ignis nodded in agreement. “It has been difficult to get them to study with the way you’ve been running them into the ground,” he pointed out.

“Hmm, yes that’s been pointed out to me,” Ayame said. “Doesn’t matter, I have a decent grasp on what Noctis and Prompto are capable, individually and together. I do want to get Noctis, Gladio, Prompto and you together in the room to see how you four work as a unit, but whether we do that today, tomorrow or after their high school graduation, I don’t care.”

Noctis was… young. He was trained, much was obvious, but Ayame could tell he had no real experience. Nothing extremely drastic at least. He never had to fight for days, had to dig down and push beyond those limits. There had been the kidnapping attempt or two that gotten far enough that he had to kill before, had gotten serious injured, but as far as she could tell, he was still fighting purely in a self-defense way.

Noctis wasn’t a warrior, for better or worse. His heart was still rather soft (which, was often its own little blessing). There was still honor in the way he fought. No bloodlust. He never had to choose, never had suffer the consequences of a bad call, never lost someone on the battlefield, never had to harden his heart and commit.

In many ways, Noctis was painfully young.

The training blocks were there. Ayame would have despaired if she had to teach him how to handle a weapon. His skills were refined enough, accuracy in his strikes, strength behind his hits. Reflexes too, sound logic, thinking, tactical planning, all there. Good muscles and stamina built up. With his warping, his speed was deadly, arguably his strongest skill. His magic strength was… acceptable. Enough to carry him, but nowhere near Ayame’s standards. In some ways, he was like decorative blade. Forged with the right materials, sturdy and strong, but ultimately a dulled blade that hadn’t been made razor sharp.

(Ayame tried to remind herself that people weren’t like her, tried to remain herself that Noctis’ ability to fight was probably more traditional protection than necessity of life.)

Prompto was worse, but none of it was his own fault. The simple difference of being civilian. But… there was an oddity there, in Prompto’s movement. Something ingrained. There was something… off about how he felt to her senses to and she hadn’t be able to place it. Still, despite Noctis had dragged him to join the training sessions, there was something about Prompto was fascinating.

He was untested, but Ayame could see that with a little bit more time and the right teacher, he would probably be someone who could match and keep up with Noctis on the battlefield. Well, if his heart, even softer than Noctis’, didn’t stop him.

Prompto did need a weapon though. Perhaps a firearm. He had the sharp eyes for it.

Now, she was curious how Ignis and Gladio fit into the picture. Unlike Noctis and Prompto, those two had thrown themselves into their training.

Gladio’s entire family resolved around fighting. His strength was clear to see in his frame. He spent more time training than the four of them and unlike the rest, had regularly seen combat. Nothing too complex, just the local wildlife as far as she knew, but fighting wildlife was nothing safe or easy.

And Ignis…? Ignis was probably the most dangerous of the entire group. His brilliant mind aside, Ignis was a man of conviction. If someone’s throat needed to be slit, not only would Ignis do so, he would do it in the cleanest, most efficient method possible, and probably with no one the wiser. There was steel in Ignis. Often the most dangerous person was the one who knew exactly what needed to be done and carried the resolve to see it accomplished, no matter the cost.

The only thing stopped those two was probably their youth. Gladio had never been tested against another human, the emotional consequences that could follow, and Ignis probably hadn’t had a time where things hadn’t gone exactly to plan, against an opponent he couldn’t win against.

The four of them together were important as a unit. She could see that much, the threads that bound them together.

“Tomorrow should work,” Ignis said. “You need to know that sooner than better. I don’t believe any of us are fit for fighting today.”

“Fair enough,” Ayame said. “I will probably be leaving for two weeks. This will let Noctis and Prompto study for their finals and prepare for their graduation without me running them into the ground.”

Ignis blinked, surprised. “You’re leaving?”

“It’s only two weeks,” Ayame said, waving her hand. “I’ve begun to exhausted the type of information I can obtain here in Insomnia. And Lucis is far larger, no?”

“Yes. The entire continent is fairly large,” Ignis said. “Any direction you walk, until you hit ocean you, all that land counts as Lucis land, including several islands along the coast. However, Niflheim’s march has been relentless and despite it being Lucis’ lands, there are more than enough of Niflheim’s forts being built and oppressing Lucians.”

Ayame hummed. “I understand the Wall keeps Niflheim out of Insomnia, understand the military was disbanded over 150 years. What I don’t understand is why keep it disbanded? I don’t deal with armies and wars, not like this. Surely nothing is gained but by standing still.”

“That was what Kingsglaive was created for,” Ignis said.

Ayame gave him a flat stare. “Kingsglaive skill set is better suited for black ops missions, not front line fighters.”

Ignis hesitated. “I can’t speak for why we haven’t recreated the military when it became obvious that Niflheim had resumed its marched toward us, back during King Mors reign. For a time, Kingsglaive had held the front lines, but they have been slowly been overwhelmed these past five years. Niflheim’s magitech produces at a faster rate than our scientists can come up with ways to fight against them.”

A viper den. Ayame rested her chin in her hand, silently contemplating. That was one thing that had been become clearly the longer she stayed here, there was corruption running in these halls. It wasn’t coming from Regis or Noctis, which was an honest surprise, it wasn’t coming from any of their inner circle. But it was there.

“Tell me honestly Ignis, in your opinion, how bad is it?” Ayame asked.

Ignis grimaced. She caught the subtle clench and unclench of his fist. “It isn’t like I have access to all the information, but based off my observations… Insomnia and all of Lucis will fall during King Regis or Noctis’ reign. The Wall will keep Niflheim out, true, as long the Lucis Caelum line is healthy enough to maintain it, but it will slowly become a siege on us, a war of attribution and resources. We’re already being boxed in. There are reports of forts being built in Leide, not even an hour drive from Insomnia’s walls.”

 _As long as the Lucis Caelum line was healthy enough to maintain the Wall?_ Ayame filed that observation away for later. She had been wondering about Regis’ health and why he looked so… terribly old for his age. Originally, she had chalked it up to genetics, but if there was a secondary reason… Excess magic usage did lead to premature aging.

No. Focus. She was already balancing far too much and whatever it was, it could wait.

“And internally?” Ayame asked.

“It’s hoard of daemons lurking in the darkness,” Ignis said. “There’s enough to suggest that…” He stopped to swallow thickly, clearly pained to have to voice it. “That there are traitors, multiple traitors, in the court, we just don’t know who. It is enough that I’ve been warned repeatedly to be careful of who I trust, who Noctis trust.”

Sounded about right. “So Regis is stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Ayame murmured. A war, both external and internal, and prophecy looming overhead. It was amazing he was getting anything done.

“Yes,” Ignis quietly agreed.

Ayame mentally sighed. So many things to fix.

If the poison was as bad she feared, than outside of Citadel must be a chemical explosion just waiting for the right spark to blow. These were the people in power. Regis might be a fair king, but if his direct support were undermining him, than in Insomnia’s shadow there was some ugly issues just waiting to come to light.

“I assume you have a list,” Ayame said.

“A list?” Ignis asked.

“Of those you suspect,” Ayame said plainly. “Give it to me.”

Ignis tilted his head. “Why?”

“First off, despite me being here, despite Regis’ blessing, I am not Lucian citizen,” Ayame said. “I’m not held to your laws and my morals are far more flexible than people assume.”

She knew Ignis would read between the lines of what she was offering. And yes, there was that sharp glint in Ignis’ green eyes.

“Second, what is the point of trying to save Noctis from this prophecy, only to throw him to the wolves hiding in plain sight in his kingdom?” Ayame said.

And hook, line and sinker. Using Noctis against Ignis more or less guaranteed Ignis’ cooperation. That kind of loyalty was dangerous, but Ayame respected it. Better to make an ally of Ignis than an enemy.

“Very well,” Ignis said.

Excellent. It was nice he was trusting her with this much.

“Sightseeing Lucis is the only reason for your two weeks trip?” Ignis asked, still digging at her motives.

“No,” Ayame said. “I want to see these daemons first hand. I’m hunting references to who or whatever is the Accursed One, maybe tracking down an Astral or two to have words, because Bahamut is an asshole.”

“The identity of the Accursed One,” Ignis noted. “I know you’ve read everything in the public royal library, but I can dig to see if I can find any other references to it.”

Ayame nodded. “Hard to fight something you don’t know the identity to,” she agreed.

She felt a pang of homesickness. Back home, Kamikawa would have given her that information in a heartbeat.

“Given the age of the prophecy, and the Lucis Caelum line, it’s possible to find some reference about the prophecy in Solheim,” Ignis said.

“Solheim fell 2000 years ago,” Ayame said, remembering the history book she had read.

“Yes, the Lucis was founded shortly after that,” Ignis said. “There are still ruins of Solheim, scattered across all of Eos.”

“Oh? That was promising,” Ayame said. She would have to look further into that. Sometimes the dead told tales.

“Will you need assistance?” Ignis said.

Ayame snorted. “Noctis and Prompto would fail without your strict tutelage if you came with me, Ignis.”

“They can handle two weeks without me,” Ignis said.

Yeah, no, she didn’t believe that. Or, well no, she had even bit of faith that with the right amount of pushing, Noctis would throw himself into studying. But, no, let him get used to leaning on others for help. Let Ignis be the stern guidance, let Prompto be the mischief distraction, let Gladio be the steady support.

“It’s fine,” Ayame said. “Regis has already _demanded_ that I take Cor with me.”

She huffed at that. It would go much faster if she went by herself, but Regis had a point that she was going in blind.

Hopefully Cor could keep up with her.

“The Marshal, I see,” Ignis said, relaxing slightly. “Then I suppose I will conceded defeat to that.”

“Daemons, seeing Lucis, hunting for information about the Accursed One, possibly meeting the Astrals,” Ignis pointed off her objections. “That’s quite a to do list.”

She had much more planned, but it was a cascading domino effect. Depending on what she found, would depend on what she would do next. There was no point in telling others about that.

“Assuming you achieve all of that, then what?” Ignis asked. “How does any of that help Noctis? I don’t believe you really have no plan.”

Ayame tilted her head. He was throwing her words back at her.

“How much of this is really bothering you?” she asked.

Ignis had the decency to look embarrassed. “If Noctis’ complaining is anything to go by, you are a powerful fighter. There’s the whole fact that Gentiana gave her blessing that you’re here. But-”

“You don’t believe it,” Ayame finished.

“No,” Ignis said. “I trust that you do have Noctis’ wellbeing in mind. I simply have a hard time you have something that will help Noctis gain something stronger than the Six without it killing him.”

Fair. She pondered how to prove it to him. He already knew she was a strong fighter, so dragging him to the training room wouldn’t do much to prove it to him.

_‘You could always show him me.’_

_‘Shh.’_

“Frankly, I’m not sure what I could possibly tell you or show you to convince you otherwise, without putting you through something dangerous,” Ayame said, tilting her chair back.

She huffed and snapped her fingers. “Will you accept this for now?”

Fire materialized on the tips of her fingers.

“Magic?” Ignis said, eyes wide. “You have magic?”

“Yes,” Ayame said. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, but yes.”

One day she would explain the difference. But now, magic was an acceptable name to call it.

Hopefully having “magic” would be enough to convince Ignis. After all, outside of Regis and Noctis, no one else naturally had magic in Insomnia. As far as she could tell at least.

“You’re going to teach Noctis how to fight with magic,” Ignis said.

“Hmm, that’s part of the plan,” Ayame said. “It’ll take a bit longer to see what he specializes in.”

“Elemancy-”

“No, really, if Elemancy was Noctis’ calling, he would be doing things much, much, much more powerful than what he can do with flasks,” Ayame said. “Elements are usually the easiest to call, even when you have no talent for them.”

Well the classical elements at least. Maybe Noctis didn’t have a specialization. Maybe warping, his family’s trait was it. Honestly, it was too soon to tell.

She told Ignis as much.

“What do you specialize in?” Ignis asked.

Smart boy. Ignis was too smart for his own good. Was this what it was like being on the opposite end of someone with razor sharp wits? No wonder Asher always got so frustrated with her.

“It depends,” Ayame said.

“Oh?” Ignis asked.

“On which way you look at it,” Ayame said. “Some say I have no specialization.”

She was a bit of an oddity back home.

“But as far as everyone is concerned, it’s gravity,” Ayame said.

“Gravity?” Ignis asked.

“Gravity,” Ayame repeated.

Ignis frowned. “How does -”

She snapped her fingers and entire tables and chairs they were sitting on floating ten feet into the air. Ignis was startled, grabbing the table to stabilize himself as his chair lifted him up. Ayame leant back, using the monument to spin upside down.

Then she snapped her fingers again and everything gently floated back down to the ground.

“Gravity,” Ayame said.

-.-.-

“Ready to go?”

Cor grumbled as Ayame entered his office and shut the door behind her. He couldn’t believe Regis signed him up to be… her babysitter. The only consolation was that Ayame didn’t look any happier and he would get the chance to observe and better understand her.

“Yes,” he said. He access with Regis’ amiger ensure that Cor wouldn’t be without supplies. (Regis would religiously check it for restocking too.) He had a small bag of necessities to carry as well, to leave in the car.

“We have to stop by the garage to pick up a car,” Cor said.

Ayame blinked. “We won’t need a car.”

… Did she not realize how big Lucis really was?

“Do you expect us to walk everywhere?” Cor asked dryly.

“Yes.”

She wasn’t serious.

Cor glowered at her. Ayame merely stepped aside, gesturing to the door.

It was going to be a long two weeks. “We’re at least taking a car to the city limits,” Cor said. He flung open his office door and-

Stepped onto grassy plains of Keycatrich.

Cor’s jaw dropped. This was Keycatrich. He could even see the Hunter Prairie outpost in the distance, just down the hill. How the hell had they gotten to Keycatrich??

Ayame breezed passed him, a wicked smile on her face.

“Try and keep up, Marshal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some worldbuilding and *throws confetti* FINALLY EXPLOSIONS NEXT CHAPTER.
> 
> please leave a review on your way out


	9. Chapter 9

It was official. Ayame was crazy. 

The last several hours, Cor had been operating on autopilot. They had arrived in Keycatrich, found the Royal Tomb there, went crawling through Keycatrich Trench, got to the royal tomb in there and were now somewhere in the Kettier Highlands if Cor’s mental map was accurate. 

It had been a complete and utter blur. 

Mostly he couldn’t figure out how Ayame was doing it. In one step to another, the scenery would change. 

What would have taken hours to cross, they were doing it in seconds, just a few steps. When he had asked her, Ayame just smiled. 

“We should probably call it a night soon,” Cor said. He eyed the setting sun. “The daemons will be coming out soon.” 

“According to the map I saw, there should be a haven nearby you can rest at,” Ayame said. 

Cor didn’t miss the ‘you’ and not ‘we’. “And where are you going?” he asked. 

Ayame pointed to the ruins in the distance. Cor felt his heart drop. 

“That’s Costlemark Tower,” Cor said with disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”

Costlemark Tower was one of those few places that Cor wouldn’t even touch. The few primlimary explorations that led into there hadn’t survived. Daemons were crawling in there, not just weak ones either. 

Ayame merely shrugged. “Of course I am,” she said. “That’s why you’re welcome to stay at the haven and if I don’t come out in two days, assume I’ve died and go back to Insomnia.” 

“This was how Clarus felt,” Cor said with realization. He owed Clarus an apology for all the reckless shit he had pulled when he was young. 

He sighed. “You realize of all the dungeons you could have picked, Costlemark Tower is one of the worst, right?” 

“A king of Lucis once led an expedition into the ruins to learn about Solheim’s wisdom,” Ayame recited. “Instead of trove of knowledge, they found a fearsome daemon, which they believed have been discovered there by Solheimians and sealed up. The men who accompanied the king died at the hands of the beat, and as a final resort, the king sacrificed his own life to cage the monster.” 

“That’s how the story goes,” Cor said. The Menace Dungeons, yet another royal family secret passed down through the Lucis Caelum line. 

Somehow he doubted the lack of key would actually stop Ayame. 

“Why this one in particular?” Cor asked resigned. 

“They say it is the worse one,” Ayame said simply. “If I can conquer the daemons that lie in here than any other daemon should be relatively easy. Besides…”

She turned to look at the moon hanging in the sky. “... the full moon is tomorrow,” she finished.

What did the full moon have to do with anything? 

Cor grunted. “Alright, let’s go,” he said.

Ayame raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were going to stay at the haven.” 

“And let you walk into that hell alone?” Cor said. “I promised Regis I would have your back. You’re mistaken if you think I’m letting you go alone.” 

Ayame grinned. “Then come along, Marshal.” 

-.-.-

Fuck this tower. Fuck the daemons. 

Cor grit his teeth as they had wandered into a large hall crawling with daemons. Was that three Red Giants? Forty Flans? A Nagarani too? 

Just getting down here, dealing with moving puzzles on top of that, had been a pain. Gelatins were hard to cut and Cor had no proficiency with magic, no matter the shared link between him and Regis. He was going to fix that once he got back to Insomnia. He let it slipped for far too long. The Ereshkigal and Bussermand were easy enough to cut down. Galvanade and Thunder Bombs were annoying but also easily to dealt. The Yojimbos were trickier but they didn’t stand a chance against Cor and Ayame. 

Admittedly, Ayame was proficident with the katana she had brought along from the armory. Cor wasn’t used to having someone who could guard his back. It wasn’t as smooth as Cor’s techniques; it was clear using a katana was not the weapon she had mastery over, but it was enough that she struck true, struck fast, and struck with power, consistently and frequently. 

Mostly the difficult part was how deep Costlemark Tower went. Cor had no idea it went this deep. He was pacing himself, but the hordes of daemons were relentless, leaving no time to rest. Cor knew he could go further, but this, this room might be take the last of his strength to survive. 

“Ah, perfect,” Ayame said. 

She stepped forward. 

“Ayame,” Cor warned. 

From right to left, she drew a half circle in front of her with her left hand, palm out. Paper rectangles with an odd symbols hung in midair, slowly glowing. “ _Blessed light, banish the darkness and purity the evil_.”

Then a bright light filled the room. 

Cor threw up his hands to shield his eyes. 

When the light died down, he lowered his arms and was immediately slammed with shock. The hall was empty. Not a single daemon in sight. 

“What the hell,” Cor said in disbelief. “You could do that?” 

Ayame flexed her fingers. “Not bad,” she said. “I could have done that normally.” 

“That didn’t take any effort?” Cor asked, sharply. She didn’t look winded the same way Noctis or Regis would be after a powerful spell and to kill over forty daemons at once had to be a powerful attack.

“No, not really,” Ayame said. “At best, that was a B ranked daemons. The hardest thing about B ranked daemons is their bulk. Or my equivalent of a B ranked.”

“Then if you could do that, why didn’t you on the way down?” Cor asked. 

Ayame shrugged. “Most of what we encountered were D or E ranked. Easy enough for us to dispatch with our swords.” 

“What exactly did you even do?” Cor asked. He was still trying to wrap his mind around it. Just… how? All she had done was create a bright flash of light. Those papers maybe? Like literal sunlight somehow?

“Purification,” Ayame said. “Cleanse and banish.” 

“Oracle magic?” Cor asked, growing even more stupefied.

“I haven’t witness this world’s Oracle to tell you otherwise,” Ayame said. “It wasn’t like any of the books I read really explained in detail about the Oracle beside healing.” 

She held out her hand. “Give me your hand,” Ayame said. 

Cor placed his hand into hers. A warm feeling washed over him. The exhaustion was pushed away, the small cut to his leg that he had received one floor up went away. It was like using an elixir.

“What was that?” Cor asked. 

“I'm giving you a boost. There's a long way to go still,” Ayame said. “Noctis said it felt like using an elixir or an ether.” 

“You have magic,” Cor said, the final piece of puzzle clicking into place. 

“You only noticed now?” Ayame said dryly. 

Cor had no way of knowing if everything Ayame had done, the bright light, the instant teleportation was actual magic or just something from her home world that she had brought with her. But this? This was undeniably healing magic, something that only Regis and Noctis could perform. Considering Eos was a world were exactly two family lines had magic, the fact that Ayame had magic, her own magic was mind blowing. 

Suddenly the very idea that maybe she really could help with the prophecy was becoming very real. She had magic, she had the power to back up her claims. Ayame clearly knew how to fight, how to use it, given everything he had witness today. She slay over forty daemons (Red Giants included) in a blink of an eye and said that took no effort. 

“Done reevaluating me in your head?” Ayame asked, deeply amused. 

No. Not even remotely close. 

Ayame placed a hand on her hip. “Cor, can it wait?” she asked, still amused. “I know rushing isn’t good, but like I said, the full moon approaches and I rather see all Costlemark Tower has to offer before it ends.” 

“What does the full moon have to do with anything?” Cor asked. 

“We’re getting pretty deep underground, but if I had to estimate, the full moon will double my abilities here,” Ayame said.

Double?!? 

“You’re telling me you could encounter a score of Red Giants and you would be able to wipe them out in a flash of light just like you did here and it wouldn’t take any effort at all,” Cor said flatly. 

Under normal circumstances fights against a single Red Giant were not not easy. They had no obvious weakness to take advantage of, their immense size make difficult to defend against and whittle down. Cor could take down a Red Giant by himself, but it would not be a quick or easy battle. 

“Something like that,” Ayame said. 

“And how strong would you be on the surface, under the moonlight?” Cor asked, having fully caught the subtle indication that being underground was actually handicapping her. 

Ayame grinned. “I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

-.-.-

“We killed a Bilrost,” Cor deadpanned. 

His muscles ached, burning over use. He was covered in blood, Bilrost’s blood. Exhaustion settled deep into his bones and there was nothing more than Cor wanted was a shower and a bed. His clothes were a lost cause, torn in multiple places that even someone as skilled as Weskham was with a needle would be able to save. 

“We killed a Bilrost,” Cor repeated. A beast that Cor had only heard legends of. 

Said beast’s corpse laid just feet away from, cooling and still spilling blood from the final blow that Cor had landed on it. 

“Yup,” Ayame said brightly. She looked equally disheveled as he did. Her white sleeves had vanished somewhere, braid undone and falling apart. 

Cor groaned. 

“I’m a little disappointed that it was a beast,” Ayame said. “I thought there would be a daemon in here. I supposed we’ll just have to find a stronger daemon to test ourselves against.” 

Cor let out another groan. 

“Come along Cor,” Ayame said, getting to her feet, extending her hand out. “Unless you want to sleep here, we do still have to leave.”

Cor accepted her hand, pulling himself up. “First caravan or hotel we find,” he said. 

“Deal,” Ayame said. “We can afford a rest day.” 

“We better,” Cor said. He took a step forward-

And found himself coming out of one of the abandoned warehouses near Cauthess Rest Area. 

Cor blinked. He sighed. “You know what, I’m not even going to question it anymore. That’s a handy trick and we’re now that much closer to a shower and a bed.” 

Ayame laughed. 

-.-.-

“Titan?” Cor asked when Ayame reappeared. They were resting at the caravan still. Cor was enforcing a day of rest, but irritably, Ayame had swiftly disappeared saying she was going to check on the Disc of Cauthess.

Though, in less than 30 mins later, she had returned. 

Ayame huffed. “Asleep. Nothing I could do would arouse him. Or well, I could, but I rather not waste the time on that. So he’s going to be of no help,” she grumbled. 

-.-.-

Cor stared impassively at raging fire in the distance. Another explosion went off, rocking the ground. A groaning crash as the metal tower came falling down. 

“We blew up Aracheole Stronghold,” he said. 

Another explosion went off, the outer wall crumbling down.

Ayame nodded. “Yup.” She raised an eyebrow, looking at him curious. “You didn’t complain when we blew up the one outside Cauthess Rest Area this morning.”

“I blame the fact that my brain wasn’t awake yet,” Cor said. He had been a bit out of this morning when Ayame had explained what she intended to do. 

He sighed. “Was attacking Imperial strongholds part of your plan?” he asked. 

“Oh no,” Ayame said. 

Cor looked at her sharply. “What did you find?” he asked. What could have made her decided that attacking Niflheim directly was something good to do? 

“Something interesting,” she remarked, giving away nothing. 

“Tell me you at least picked up information we can take back,” Cor asked, resigned. 

Ayame nodded. “Of course.” 

“You’re not going to tell me,” Cor said, a statement, not a question, already knowing her response.

Ayame gave him an amused look. “I intend to make that information obsolete, so I don’t see the point of telling you what is going to be old information.”

This girl. It wasn’t for the first time Cor cursed Regis for putting him up to this. He sighed. “Fine. Which stronghold are we attacking next?” 

“Well, Fort Vaullerey is just down the road,” Ayame said. 

-.-.-

“Ayame, this is _Gralea_!” 

“Yeah, and?”

-.-.-

It was freezing. Even with the thick coat that Cor was wearing, it didn’t change the fact that it was freezing cold. He took a small comfort that the two weeks was finally coming closed. This… trip had been… enlightening. Madly enlightening. 

Ayame was, well, she was crazy as far as Cor was concerned. But there was a clear analytical mind behind all the madness. A careful trek across Lucis, the identification of several royal tombs that had been lost to the ages of time, every daemon hunt taken care of that they came across, the careful peeking into Accordo and Tenebrae’s political atmosphere, the destruction of every single Niflheim stronghold that they came across. 

In these two weeks, she had landed a swift decisive blow against Niflheim, pushing back the creeping march toward Insomnia. The daemon count was even trickling downward. Cor thought he was going crazier, but as the days went longer, in Lucis at least before they had made the jump across the ocean to heart of Niflheim, there was actually a subtle uptick of less daemons they were running into. Something he believed to how Ayame was defeating them. 

Of course not all her plans were entirely sane. Cor tried really to repress what went down in Gralea. He almost had to drag her out of there. 

Niflheim must be losing their head over the swift and sudden change to the entire war. 

His measure of respect and trust for her had grown exponentially these two past weeks. 

But, he warily looked down at the building they were observing, this could not bold good news. 

“Why are we here, Ayame?” Cor asked. 

“I take it you recognize this building,” Ayame said. 

How could Cor not? 

“First Magitek Production Facility,” Cor said. It had been nearly seventeen years since he had seen this place. 

“If I ask, will you honestly tell me about the mission you took here?” Ayame asked. 

Cor grumbled, annoyed that she even knew he had been here before. But she had asked and she had proven over and over again that being honest with her, led to greater things.

“Nothing special. I was tasked with finding out how Niflheim was making their MT troops. I messed up,” Cor said. 

“Mess up how?” Ayame asked. 

Cor grit his teeth. “I compromised the mission and set off the alarms before I could find anything useful.” 

“Because you found a child,” Ayame said. 

“...Yes,” Cor said. “I came across an experiment on a child, chose to break the child out instead of completing the mission.” 

“That child wouldn’t happen to be Prompto would it?” Ayame asked. 

That information… was nowhere Ayame could have found. The only people who knew about Prompto was Cor, Regis and Clarus. It wasn’t written in any report. Prompto’s file was flagged as a special case, but the exact reason wasn’t written down. 

“How?” Cor asked. 

Ayame shrugged. “It’s the tiny pieces putting together and a bunch of other things that you can’t see.” She tapped her wrist. 

“The barcode,” Cor said hoarsely. The only proof that Prompto’s history wasn’t so nice. 

“He hasn’t shown me,” Ayame said. “He doesn’t even know I suspect this.” 

“What does Prompto have to do with why we are here?” Cor asked, suddenly tired. 

Ayame flashed him a sheepish look before it twisted in a grim expression. “Does Lucis absolutely need to know how MTs are made?” she asked quietly. 

Cor felt his heart drop, stomach rolling. “Ayame?” he asked. 

“There are… some things that should remain hidden in the dark, questions unasked,” Ayame said. “I will tell you that how ever they are made, it something that humans shouldn’t be meddling with it. I know only the basic theory and I already want to scrub my brain.” She smiled bittersweetly. “The problem is that I never forget anything I learn.” 

“If the world is better off not knowing, then no, Lucis doesn’t need to know how MTs are made,” Cor said. He had never figured out why a child like Prompto was in such a facility like this, but the only possible explanations Cor could up with was nothing pretty.

Regis would never allow something so twisted to be replicated, but why even present the temptation in the first place? 

Ayame relaxed. 

So there were some lines she wouldn’t cross. Good to know. 

“This is the information you’ve been hunting in the strongholds and forts,” Cor said. “Whatever you found, you wanted to dig to the bottom of it.” 

Ayame nodded. “Yes, it was a slip of information I had read while digging through their paperwork. Their choice of words that tipped me off. Fighting the MT troopers at each stronghold we encountered confirmed it. And I kept following the trail, until we arrived here.” 

“I take it we won’t be storming this one like we did with the others,” Cor said. He didn’t know if he felt relieved or disappointed. On one hand, he didn’t want to know what happening inside of this facility, especially if it was making Ayame uneasy. On the other hand, this was a source and if they crippled this place like they had with the others, it would give Regis a lot of breathing room. 

“Correct,” Ayame said. 

A tiny black sphere gathered on the tip of her finger. Ayame flicked it in the direction of the facility. 

Cor watched as it grew bigger and bigger, until it swallowed the entire building. Even the surrounding trees were uprooted, pulled straight into it. His jaw dropped as it disappeared, leaving nothing but a large crater behind. It was as if Titan had reached out and scooped up the entire area and leaving nothing behind. 

“What was that?” Cor asked. 

“A black hole,” Ayame said. “Or perhaps you would better know it as a Gravity Well?” 

A gravity well? There was a Niflheim weapon with a similar name, that dragged opponents straight into it. But nothing like this scale.

“Since when could you do that?” Cor asked. 

Ayame shrugged. “It’s my specialization.” 

Her specialization? Did that mean everything Cor witness these past two weeks were her _weak_ fields? 

Her features harden. “I told you, there are some things that should be left in the dark. Letting them exist is no longer an option so I decided to wipe them off the _face of the planet_.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will fondly be called "The Two Week Blender Cor wished he could forget" 
> 
> (Buy him a drink when you get back, Ayame!) 
> 
> Happy Holidays!  
> Please leave a review on your way out :D


	10. Chapter 10

“Good morning Noctis,” Regis said fondly as Noctis stumbled into the dining room for breakfast. 

“Morn-yawn-ing dad,” Noctis said, blinking and rubbing his eyes. 

It was not the first, nor the last time Regis would feel a swell of love and pride for his son. He was growing up into a fine young man. Perhaps still a bit too lazy and sleepy, but when Noctis put his mind to it, it was always easy to see how kind his heart was. 

“Your first day free from high school,” Regis said with a smile. “Any plans?” 

Finals, despite Noctis’ moaning and groaning, had gone off with great success. Ignis of course had helped, but Regis had been proud of Noctis’ grades regardless. Graduation had been a bit of a security nightmare, especially without Cor around, but Regis stubbornly fought for the chance to see Noctis’ graduation. (Clarus finally relented.) 

Noctis shrugged. “A nap?” he said wryly. 

Then a flicker of discomfort. “Ayame and Cor are supposed to come back today.”

Regis mourned. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid with telling Noctis about the prophecy. 

“Breakfast is served,” Ignis announced, entering the room with a tray cart loaded with dishes. 

“Ignis,” Regis said fond. “You didn't have to cook.” 

“I enjoy cooking,” Ignis said. “And Noct-”

“Prefers Ignis’ cooking over everything else,” Noctis finished with a grin. 

“Well, then I hope you brought enough for yourself as well. Do join us, Ignis,” Regis said. 

“Well I certainly brought enough,” Ignis said, laying out the dishes. 

Noctis blinked. “No kidding. Looks like you cooked enough for a small party, Ignis.” 

“Yes,” Ignis said a tad sheepish. “I don’t know what came over me this morning.” 

“Half of these you wouldn't even make for breakfast,” Noctis noted. 

That was very true. Regis wasn’t going to complain, but laying out on the table were meat skewers, what looked to be Ignis’ Crown City Roast, a soup that judging from the color must be Devilfin Soup, and orange cake with usual breakfast dishes. 

The doors opened and Clarus walked in. “Good morning,” he greeted. 

“Pull up a seat, Clarus,” Regis said. “And I hope you're hungry. This is far too much food for the rest of us.” 

Clarus blinked. “That is quite a bit of food.” 

“Yes,” Ignis said, flushing red with embarrassment. 

“Who knows?” Clarus said in good humor. “Perhaps Cor and Ayame will arrive just in time to help eat this. They are due back today.” 

Regis grinned. Cor was usually starving when he returned from missions, devouring everything put in front of him. Part of it was his own fault, living off rations and pushing himself to his limits. The other part was he truly wasn't that good of a cook, and days of canned beans was a cruel punishment in itself. 

“Are they returning today for sure?” Ignis asked, undoubtedly trying to steer the conversation away from the amount of food he had cooked. 

“She didn't give an exact date, but today would make two weeks,” Clarus said. 

That had been arguably the most troubling thing. No one had seen Cor and Ayame leave. All Noctis got was a text message from her, saying she was heading out (and to do good on his finals) and the last anyone saw her was entering Cor's office. 

There hadn't been any reports or sighting of them since. It wasn't unlike Cor to go radio silent; Regis gave him free reign to do what he thought he needed to do and interrupting him or making Cor wait for confirmation of an order had been silly. But, this wasn't a sensitive mission, so Regis had thought Cor would have been calling in regularly to check in. 

But it had been two weeks of silence. Even Ayame hadn't answer the text messages that Noctis had sent. 

Speaking of the devil…

The doors opened once more and in staggered Ayame and Cor. 

Regis felt his jaw dropped. The two of them looked like they had been put through the wringer. There was black sludge, daemon blood most likely, dripping from Cor’s katana. Ayame had a cut on her cheek, her usual braid gone. Cor was sporting a slight limb, leaning heavily on his right leg more than his left. 

“That was fun!” Ayame chirped. 

“Fun she says. Fun,” Cor deadpanned. “What part of fighting Tonberries, Sir Tonberries in fact, is fun?” 

Regis felt like he was having a heart attack. Sir Tonberries? As in the high level daemon? What were those two doing that they were fighting against Sir Tonberries?

Cor seemed to finally seemed to recognize his surroundings. “This is Insomnia,” he said flatly. 

“What?” Ayame asked. “You're the one who said you wanted to go home after we were done fighting the Sir Tonberries.” 

“I hate you,” Cor said vehemently. 

Ayame grinned. “I knew you loved me.” 

“Are you two alright?!” Noctis finally broke the spell on their side, asking the question on Regis’ mind. 

“We’re fine!” Ayame said. “Though a shower won't be remiss.”

“And food,” Cor said. 

“Clean up and come join us. Ignis made plenty of food,” Regis said. 

The two of nodded and vanished into the room next door. Ten minutes later they had returned in clean clothes and hair damp with water. 

Ayame let out a happy sigh. “Ignis’ cooking! If that was one thing I missed,” she said. 

Ignis smiled. “Thank you, Ayame.” 

“How was your trip?” Regis asked. “And why were you fighting Sir Tonberries?” 

“Enlightening!” Ayame said. “And because they were the strongest daemon I could find?” 

Cor snorted. “If you have any doubts about her abilities, you can disregard them.” 

That was high praise from Cor. Very high praise. And the implication that the two of them fought and defeated the Sir Tonberries (plural as in multiple, mind blogging to be honest), meant Ayame had to be someone of considerable strength. 

Cor took a sip of the soup and frowned. 

“Something wrong, Cor?” Ignis asked. 

“No, I guess it's been awhile since I had your cooking, Ignis. Tastes different,” Cor said. “Unless you change the recipe?” 

“No,” Ignis said. “That one has more or less been the same recipe since I made it four years ago.” 

“But he has gotten better,” Ayame cheerfully added. 

Cor narrowed his eyes. “Ayame, why does Ignis’ food taste different to me?”

“What makes you think I know?” 

Cor growled. “Ayame.” 

Ayame huffed. “Fine, fine. Two things. Specialization and the fact that you spent two weeks in close quarters with me.” 

“Specialization?” Regis asked. 

“What does close quarters have to do with anything?” Noctis asked. “You and I have spent plenty of time together in close quarters and Ignis’ food hasn't changed to me.” 

“Let me clarify, two weeks where 77% of our battles were life or death and would have killed a lesser warrior,” Ayame said. 

Just what had those two been doing???

“I thought you two were taking a sightseeing tour across Lucis?” Clarus asked. 

“We did!” Ayame said, perhaps too gleefully. 

“And if one of those locations happened to be Costlemark Tower, there was no stopping her,” Cor said. 

“Costlemark Tower?” Regis asked in horror. As in one of the worst dungeons in all of Lucis? A place infested with so many daemons, no one dared to step into that place? 

“I still think that was the best place we visited,” Ayame said. 

“A Bilrost,” Cor hissed. “We fought a Bilrost.”

“And you killed it,” Ayame said innocently. “Not seeing the issue here.” 

“Okay, even I know what a Bilrost is,” Noctis said. “You two fought one of those?” 

“That is what's in Costlemark Tower?” Regis asked, still reeling from disbelief. “How deep did you two go?”

“All the way,” Ayame said. 

All the way?!? 

Ignis cleared his throat. “This is extremely fascinating but before we drift too far away from the original question, I would still like to know what is wrong with my cooking.” 

“There's nothing wrong with your cooking,” Ayame said. “Still tastes amazing.” 

Ignis crossed his arms. “Specialization, like how your specialization is gravity? You never explained what a specialization is.” 

Cor raised an eyebrow. “How does Ignis know about your specialization?” 

Ayame rolled her eyes. “Because he's too smart for his own good,” she grumbled. “It's actually kinda annoying at how good he is at reading between the lines. Like you.” 

Cor bared his teeth. “Good.” 

“Ayame,” Ignis said, catching her focus again. 

Ayame waved her spoon. “Fine, fine. We'll have a little impromptu lesson.” She gave Noctis a pointed look. “Pay attention.” 

Noctis sat up straighter, looking more alert. 

“A soul, every soul, be it animal or human, outputs energy. Back home, this is called Spirit Energy,” Ayame said.

“For majority of people, even the ones here in Lucis, this doesn't mean anything. They don't have enough spirit energy to do anything with it, but it will sometimes manifest in small ways. Like finding a parking spot when you need it, doing poorly on an exam because you think you failed. Good or bad luck in your every day of life.” 

“Mind over matter, positive thinking influencing your life,” Clarus said. 

Ayame nodded. “Yes. Sometimes just believing is enough to change things.”

Ah. So this was what she meant about Regis hoping and praying and believing for someone to help with the prophecy. 

“Then there are people who have an abundant amount of spirit energy. They have supernatural abilities, but the appearance of those abilities can differ. Add in different locations, cultures and languages and they're often called different things. But when you distill it to its purest form, it’s Spirit Energy,” Ayame said. 

“Imagine Person A has the ability to use fire magic. Person B has the ability to talk to the dead. The two abilities have nothing in common, have their own history and terminology, but when you break it down, both are fueled by the energy output by their own soul.

“It's like comparing a sword and a bo staff. They're made of different materials, have different techniques and handling methods, but at the core of the matter, they are both weapons.” 

“Your magic which is not magic, according to you, is Spirit Energy,” Noctis said. 

“You have magic?” Regis asked. Actual magic? No wonder Cor was praising her skills. 

“Spirit Energy, Magic, call it whatever you want,” Ayame said. 

“I've seen her use healing magic,” Noctis said. “Or boosting. Feels like an elixir or ether.” 

“Fire magic,” Ignis said. “And gravity.” 

“All that and purification magic,” Cor said, giving Regis a knowing look. 

Purification magic… like the Oracle? Like Lunafreya? 

“When you distill the Lucis Caelum Magic, it is also Spirit Energy,” Ayame said. “Hence why to Noctis my version of healing feels like an Elixir or an Ether. The two are compatible.

“That brings me to family bloodlines and specialization. Person B has the ability to talk to the dead. That is what they specialize in, nothing else. They cannot summon fire for example or heal, they can only speak to the dead. But, if they put their mind to it, it doesn't have to stop at only speaking to the dead.” 

“You can master the sword, but it doesn't mean you can't pick up a knife and fight,” Cor said. “You won't be as good with it as a sword, but enough to defend yourself and not slice off your hand.” 

Ayame nodded. “There are a wide range of abilities that are so low level that anyone can master it. Person B won't be able to heal a broken bone, but small cuts? That's doable. Could even summon enough fire to light a candle, nothing compared to Person A but it can be done. 

“On the other hand, Person B can focus and expanded on the fact that they interact with the dead. With more training, they could maybe raise the dead, call back those who have moved to the beyond, see the dead's memories, help them on. Many different ways to interact with the dead.” 

“Mastery of a skill,” Ignis was saying. “It's not enough to yield it, but all forms and definition of it.” 

“Correct,” Ayame said. “Some people do not have specializations. Jack of all trades, the only limitation is their own biases and beliefs. They won't be as strong as someone with mastery but more flexibility and less weaknesses overall. Some people have a specialization so specific, it really ought to be called an ability and unfortunately, that is the best they can do.

“Specializations have a habit of running in the family. Passed down from parent to child. Take Person A who has fire magic. Their mother had fire magic, whose mother had fire magic, and so forth until the first instance in the family line.”

“Like Lucis Caelum magic,” Regis said. 

Ayame nodded. “Exactly like that. Now if Person A's father has ice magic, then it is a toss up as to whether Person A inherits fire magic from their mother, ice magic from their father, both, nothing at all or something completely different like lightning magic.

“It is also possible for a family to be so deep in their specialization that Person A can use fire magic like every member of their family, but their actual specialization is talking to the dead.” 

Wait a minute… Regis’ eyes narrowed. Was she honestly implying... “Are you saying that just because every Lucis Caelums can warp and use Elemancy, both Noctis and I could do something completely different?” Regis asked. 

“Yup,” Ayame said. “Unfortunately there is no way to help narrow it down, a lot of specializations are discovered by trying a bunch of things and seeing what sticks. There are common ones that many people try, but most stumble across their specialization accidentally. It's why people who have families with long specializations often miss their specialization. They don't think to test abilities outside of their family known specialization and spend their life with passable skills.

“Your personality, the type of person you are usually, but not always, has an influence on what your specialization. Person B probably lost their love one too early and only way to cope was to speak to them even though they were dead. Person A probably had a hot headed temper which manifests as fire.”

“So fishing or sleep,” Noctis deadpanned. 

“Titles help too, _O King of Light_ ,” Ayame said amused. “You stand an equal chance of gaining a light specialization. Or perhaps your family magic is your specialization. Who knows?” 

“Cooking is my specialization,” Ignis said. “But how? I don't have a special ability, Spirit Energy or Magic. It's all borrowed from Noctis.” 

“Same way as Cor,” Ayame said. “And Clarus, and Gladio, and Prompto.” 

“What?” Clarus asked. 

“The most amazing thing about Spirit Energy, is that it that it always wants to expand and grow,” Ayame said. “If you put Person C who has an average amount of Spirit Energy next to Person D who has an abundant amount of Spirit Energy for a long period of time, Person C will naturally gain more Spirit Energy via close proximity.” 

She grinned. “So Ignis, how long have you been by Noctis’ side?” 

Ignis’ jaw dropped. 

“Thanks to the spar I had against the four of you before I had left, I can safely say the only reason why Gladio and Prompto aren't as proficient as you are with the flasks is because they haven't spent as much time with Noctis as you have. And that manifests clearly with your spell daggers.

“In fact, I'm certain the only reason why you aren't warping like a seasoned Glaive is because you haven't quite figured out that little mental switch yet. But once you do, I fully expect you will be warping around as easily as Noctis does.” 

She snickered. “Ignis, after Regis and Noctis, you are have the most Spirit Energy in all of Insomnia.”

“But Cor and Clarus,” Ignis protested. 

“Ignis you are never that far from Noctis. Haven't been since, what, you were six? It's always best to start young; you soak up Spirit Energy like a sponge when you're young. On top of that, you have your specialization which you practice every day, almost three times a day, for multiple people since you never cook only for yourself. Is it really any surprise?” Ayame said with a laugh. 

“Though,” she said looking at Cor, “I guess I'll have to reevaluate. I did give Cor quite a boost these past two weeks.” 

“It was two weeks,” Cor said flatly.

“Spirit Energy has a habit of growing exponentially under life and death circumstances,” Ayame said. “And we were under a lot of those, as you so fondly cursed me for and I have more Spirit Energy than Regis and Noctis combined. I certainly didn't expect you to recognize the effect of Ignis’ cooking, but here we are.” 

Regis’ head was spinning. So Ignis picked his magical abilities from Noctis, same went for Gladio and Prompto. Clarus and Cor mostly likely from him. Did that mean Cid and Weskham too? His heart twisted. 

Ignis had always shown an extraordinary amount of talent for magic. Nearly better than every Glaive Regis had employed. Regis had originally chalked it up his quick mind, determination, and the luck of the draw, but that wasn't the only factor it seemed.

What would have happened if Regis had insisted on Ignis getting Kingsglaive training instead of Crownsguard? The only reason why it didn't happened was Cor had a soft spot for Ignis and Drautos didn't. Cor wanted to train Ignis and so to Cor, Ignis went. 

“Just to clarify,” Clarus said, “Close proximity to the Lucis Caelum line, results in people developing their own magical abilities.” 

Ayame nodded. 

“The only reason why no one has noticed this before is because no one tries anything outside of Lucis Caelum magic. So if anything they saw an increase to the abilities shared between them and the ruler at the time,” Clarus continued. 

“Or in the case of Ignis’ cooking specialization, which is more passive, they thought they were just good at what they were doing,” Ayame said. 

“Life and death situations increase magical ability,” Clarus said slowly. “So the reason why majority of our Kingsglaive recruits are refugees from outside of Insomnia is because of the trauma of losing their home.”

“Most likely correct,” Ayame said.

Regis let out a hiss. Kingsglaive used to be open to all Lucians in the city as well, but for some reason the majority of Lucians never took to the magic. Regis couldn't figure out why, because he could share magic with his retinue, it should work the same. 

He knew the fact the Kingsglaive was made of mostly refugees was a sore point. He thought maybe it was something in the bloodlines, in the water, that made it easier for them to take to the magic. (Oh Astrals. Galahd) He never wanted to take _advantage_ of their trauma.

“Ayame, I would like to discuss about that more later,” Regis said. 

“Sure,” she said. 

“What does my cooking specialization actually entail?” Ignis asked. 

“Can’t tell?” Ayame asked. “This is quite a bit of food and I didn’t exactly announce we would be back in time for breakfast.”

Ignis frowned. “I woke up with an odd feeling that I needed to cook more food than usual and these dishes specifically.” 

“I’m touched, I’m really am,” Ayame said. “Because it means you like me enough to feed me. Cor too, but there’s no surprise about that. You’re intuned enough to know when the people you like are in need food and that you need specific type of food.”

“The type of food matters?” Noctis asked. 

Ayame tapped her plate. “ _Libra._ ” 

A little screen popped up and she flicked it toward Ignis. 

Ignis blinked, fingers brushing through hologram. “Devilfin Soup. Attack Boost (Level 20) Strength +200, Regen Boost (Level 5) HP Recovery Rate +125%.” 

“Ignis’ food works like a video game stat buff?” Noctis asked. 

“Yes,” Ayame said. “Which is why I keep telling you to stop taking my pudding. All of Ignis’ dishes either buff or debuff and certain dishes are better than others, probably has to do with how long he’s been cooking them.” 

“But Attack Boost? Regen Boost? How does that even work?” Ignis asked, baffled. 

“Well, right now? It’s only the only reason why Cor and I are still up,” Ayame said. “The strength boost is the reason why we’re awake and not crashing on the first flat surface we found. And I assume since it stopped hurting, the cut on my cheek is gone? That’s the Regen Boost in effect. Cor probably isn’t feeling pain in his leg anymore.” 

“Huh… you’re right,” Cor said. 

“If this was when we at full health? Probably would prevent minor injuries and would ensure that attacks we land are more powerful,” Ayame said. She reached for the meat skewers. 

“Oh,” Noctis said. 

“Noct?” Ignis asked. 

“It’s just, I always feel better after eating your cooking,” Noctis said absentmindedly. “The pain, I mean. It’s always much more manageable. I thought it was just because of waking up and doing the stretches or in some cases the meds. Or even maybe it was finally, not getting better, but like normal. And it was always somehow worst when you couldn’t come over, which I thought was my laziness to get out of bed.” 

Regis’ heart dropped. That was why Noctis preferred Ignis’ cooking so much? 

Ignis choked. “Noct, I will cook for you every day,” he promised. 

Noctis scrunched his nose. “I love your food, Iggy, but don’t overdo it okay. If you can’t, you can’t. Don’t stress out about it. I don’t expect you to cook for me every day.” 

“Certainly explains why majority of the dishes have some sort of health or attack boost,” Ayame mumbled. “Health to reduce the pain, strength to cope with the pain.” 

“Ayame,” Ignis started. 

“Yes, yes teaching you how to identify each dish’s buff or debuff,” she said with a wave. 

She pointed her spoon at Regis. “If Ignis is willing, you’re the one who should be eating his food every day.”

“I beg your pardon?” Regis asked. 

Ayame narrowed her eyes. “I don’t have time to dig into it, but I don’t like the state of your health.”

“I’ll can cook for the two of you,” Ignis said. 

“Ignis, if you want to cook for me, I’ll gladly eat it,” Regis said. “But I’ll echo what Noctis said. I don’t expect you to cook for me every day. If you can’t, you can’t. No matter how much I may benefit from it.” 

Ignis looked at both him and Noctis with a stubborn look. 

“What buff does Ignis’ pudding cups have?” Cor asked. 

“Sleep,” Ayame said. 

“A status ailment?” Regis asked. “But why?” Why was she purposely inflict a status ailment on herself?

Ayame waved her hand. “I get insomnia sometimes. It helps.” 

Ignis looked like he was ready to march back into the kitchen. 

Ayame grinned. “So, can you past the roast?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't touch Ayame's pudding cups, lol. 
> 
> I had to include Ignis' magical cooking ability in somehow. xD 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you may have noticed, but I tweaked the the summary and touched up Chapter 1. This fic was my first FFXV fic, right after finishing the game, so I hadn't quite hit my strive in terms of characterizations and facts. (I didn't, for example, know that Noctis had an apartment while in high school.) So I just went around smoothing out some points, correcting some common facts and so forth. I'll touch up the rest of the chapters later. You don't have to reread them. There's nothing majorly new. But in case anyone was wondering why it had changed.

“Drautos, welcome back,” Regis said. “How fares the frontlines?”

For the last three months, Drautos and majority of the Kingsglaive had been out in the frontlines, engaging the Niflheim’s army, leaving only a small group here in Insomnia, led by Nyx. 

Drautos had a grim but puzzled look. “I'll admit, things had been bad. We were being pushed back, slowly but surely.”

That much Regis feared. It wasn't even new news. Niflheim had continued to progress, much to Regis’ disdain. 

“But something changed a little over two weeks ago,” Drautos said. “They started pulling back. There were less MTs on the battlefield. But it wasn't anything we did. I have no idea what they're planning to do, or why retreating now.” 

Ah. Ayame and Cor's little “vacation”. Cor had told him the sheer amount of chaos Ayame had caused. 

“Fortunately that has to do with the reason why I wanted to meet with you today,” Regis said. “Cor and Clarus will be joining us shortly, along with a young woman. Things have been interesting since you left for the frontlines.” 

He was honestly surprised that when he had arrived to this meeting room that Ayame wasn't already present. Regis supposed he was becoming used to her being all over the place. (Cor knew how she was doing it too, if his grumbling was anything to go by.) 

Speaking of the chaos whirlwind, the door opened and Ayame entered. She came to a stop, closer to Regis than Drautos, giving Drautos a wary look. 

“Who are you?” Ayame asked, voice flat. 

Odd. While she wasn't the friendliest person, there was usually more energy in Ayame when she greeted someone. 

“This is Titus Drautos, Captain of Kingsglaive. He just returned from the frontlines,” Regis said. 

“Drautos, this is Ayame. She arrived in Insomnia in unusual circumstances and has been a great help.” 

“She's a child,” Drautos protested. 

This time Ayame slid in front of Regis. “Who are you?” she repeated. 

Drautos raised an eyebrow. “Did you not hear His Majesty?” 

Ayame snarled. “Then, I'll clarify. Who is Glauca?” 

Drautos narrowed his eyes. “He's the high commander of Niflheim’s army.” 

“Ayame,” Regis said, half a warning, half a question. What was she playing at? 

Ayame flicked her wrist and the walls were covered in paper rectangles. “ _In this room, you will speak the truth._ Are you Glauca, Titus Drautos?” 

What. No. Regis felt his heart clenched. Surely she wasn't implying…? 

He looked at Drautos, practically begging for it to be untrue when- 

“Yes,” Drautos said. His expression twisted in surprise, as if he had never meant to say that. 

He growled, sword appearing out of nowhere. 

She gave him no chance to swing. “ _Kneel_ ,” Ayame said. 

Regis felt a downward pressure. The tables and chairs creaked and groaned. 

Drautos hissed, dropping to his knees. Sword falling to the ground. “How?” he asked through grit teeth.

Ayame didn't answer him. 

“Why Drautos?” Regis asked, desperately trying to understand. All these years… Drautos had been Glauca? His heart fell to pieces. Sylva, Tenebrae… How many times? How deep did this betrayal run? 

Drautos let out a hoarse bark of laughter. “I owe you nothing,” he said. He bit down on his tongue, blood spilling and choking before his body slumped over. 

Regis staggered. Ayame caught his elbow, steadying him. Her piercing golden eyes, never leaving Drautos’ body. 

“Regis?!?” Cor and Clarus panicked cries could be heard over the pounding the door. 

Wordlessly, Ayame flicked her wrist and the paper rectangles moved to let the door open. In came in Cor and Clarus. 

“What?” Clarus asked, staring at Drautos’ body. 

“Are you staying in or out?” Ayame asked curtly. 

“In,” Cor respond instantly, a testament of how used to Ayame he was. 

“What is going on?” Clarus asked. 

“In or out?” Ayame asked. “Regis sit. Have your panic attack later.” 

That was far easier said than done. Regis took a seat on the nearest chair, mind spinning. He rubbed his face, still in shock and feeling so tired. 

He had suspected traitors in his court for years. It hadn't been anything overt. Just a few key battles that turned out harder than expected or with a higher death count than Regis was comfortable with. A trickle of information that shouldn't be known. Only three people knew about Regis’ trip with Noctis to Tenebrae nearly ten years ago and they were all in this room. How did he never noticed? 

The door slammed shut, sealing Regis, Ayame, Clarus and Cor in the room. 

“Ayame-” Clarus started. 

“Later,” she said. “There are more pressing things.” 

Ayame reached out and the air seemed to twisted. A flash of light and there, standing over Drautos’ cooling body, was a ghostly, transparent version of Drautos. A gleam of silver and suddenly Drautos was flying backwards, hands pinned to the wall with a dagger. His expression twisted into fear and panic. 

“How?” Drautos asked. 

Ayame let loose a dark laugh. “I'm sorry,” she said. “Did you think dying meant you could escape my grasp? Did you think dying meant I couldn't touch you? You are sadly mistaken.”

Regis stared. The shock gave way to a white hot anger. He didn't know how Ayame was doing this but it didn't matter. What did, was that he wanted answers. 

“Ayame,” Regis ordered. “I wanted to know everything.” 

She snorted, as she glanced back to look at him. “I thought as much.” 

Ayame turned back to Drautos. “I'm sure Glauca here will gladly answer. Unless he wants to find out how easily souls **break**.” 

-.-.-

“Nyx!”

Nyx beamed. “Crowe! Libs! I heard you guys were back.”

It was such a relief that they especially had come back safe and sound. These last three months sucked. There were up sides, especially the last two, but Nyx was a bit antsy over the fact that the people he cared about were out there fighting without him watching their back.

(Not that he thought arrogantly that he could protect them all by himself. They were all capable fighters. But it might kill him if he found out Libertus didn't make it back because Nyx wasn't there to guard his back.) 

Crowe nudged him in the side. “So hero, enjoy your enforced leave?”

“Hah! He was probably driving up the wall in boredom,” Libertus said, slapping Nyx's back. 

“Actually it was a bit interesting,” Nyx said. That was one way to describe it. 

“Oh?” Crowe asked. 

“Nyx?” 

Nyx turned around to see Noctis standing there. He grinned. “Hey there, little prince. What can I do for you?” 

Noctis shrugged. “Ayame said come and find you?” 

“Huh? Is that so?” Nyx asked. Why would she do that? 

Ayame was an odd character. There were plenty of rumors about her. How she seemed to just show up one day, a welcomed visitor and guest rooms in the Royal Wing. Whispers about how she must be the prince’s girlfriend, because why else would she be allowed here? And then the stories that she was sneaking into Noctis’ bedroom. 

Nyx had the privilege of knowing a bit more about her than most. The bonus of being Noctis’ warping teacher really. She wasn’t his girlfriend, he knew that much, but it was true that she kept sneaking into his bedroom. 

Then there was two weeks were she disappeared and all Noctis said was she out sightseeing Lucis with the Marshal. 

Noctis shrugged. 

“Oooo? A girlfriend?” Crowe lightly teased. 

“No!” Noctis blurted out. His face scrunched up. “I wouldn’t date Ayame. She’s... “ he waved his hands trying to convey her in a single word. 

Privately, Nyx agreed. She just… so… “Ayame?” Nyx offered. 

Noctis nodded. “Yeah. Ayame is Ayame. She’s… really someone you have to meet to understand.” 

Nyx felt it more than heard what came next. The sound of cracking, a pressure unbearably heavy, a touch of something unworldly. 

“Ayame,” Noctis said as Ayame came storming down the hallway. 

“You got here before I did, good,” Ayame said. 

Nyx twitched, ever so slightly. She had been here for two months. There was no way she was a threat, no way King Regis would let her stay so close to Noctis if she was dangerous. But he didn’t like the feral look in her eyes, like a courel ready to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. 

“Are you okay?” Noctis asked, his tone of voice was cautious. Seemed like he picked up on it too. 

“Yes. No,” Ayame said. She looked at Nyx. “You’re with me, Nyx. You have 15 minutes to pack the essentials before I leave, with or without you. Feel free to decline.” 

“Leave!” Noctis protested. “You just got back!” 

The sound of cracking fill the air. Everyone flinched. 

“Yes,” Ayame said. “And right now I’m not very safe to be around.” 

She shoved a book into Noctis’ hands. “I want you to practice these characters in this book. Step by step, follow each one as perfectly as you can. If it looks sloppy, it won’t take. Do it five thousand times. Start with the one labeled barrier.” 

Noctis nodded. “Okay. I can do that. How…”

“Three days, a week at most,” Ayame said, snarling. 

“What happened?” Noctis asked. 

“Ask your father,” Ayame said. “This morning was a fucking nightmare.” She twirled the tip of her braid, the sound of cracking echoing louder. “Clean up was even worse. The reason why I’m taking Nyx and not Cor with me is because Cor is needed here for the remainder of the clean up and I-” 

The window next to them shattered into pieces. 

“And that’s exactly why I want to leave Insomnia. Now,” Ayame said flatly. 

“Alright,” Noctis said. “Bring Nyx back in one piece. Unless he isn’t planning on going?” 

Nyx blinked. “Err, sure I can.” He didn’t really understand what’s going on, but it sounded very important to get Ayame out of the city. 

“I brought back Cor in one piece,” Ayame complained. 

“You and Cor fought a Bilrost,” Noctis said. “And Sir Tonberries.” 

Wait. What? What did Nyx just agree to? 

The notebook Ayame handed Noctis disappeared in a flash of blue magic. Noctis summoned a bag. “Here Nyx. A week worth of supplies. Ration bars, elixirs, potions, ethers, first aid kit and a tent. There should also be a bag of money. I recognize it’s pretty fruitless, but try not to let Ayame drag you anywhere you don’t want to go.” 

“A bag of supplies, huh?” Nyx said, accepting it. “You’re pretty prepared.” 

“I have both Ignis and Gladio,” Noctis said. “There’s no way I wouldn’t have something like that on hand.” 

“Can we go?” Ayame asked, annoyed. 

“Wait, Nyx,” Libertus said. 

Nyx gave his best friend a cheerful wave. “Don’t sweat it, Libs. I’ll be back in a few days.” 

“Hurry up,” Ayame snapped. 

“Coming,” Nyx said, following her through the door and stepping out onto the mountain peaks of Cleigne. “Err… what? How did we get here?” 

“Questions later!” Ayame snapped. “I’m going to blow up something up.” 

“Hey, wait-!”

Something exploded in the distance. 

Nyx gaped. Seriously, what the hell did he just agree to? 

-.-.-

“She’s a bit unhinged, isn’t she?” Clarus said, pouring himself a drink. 

“A bit,” Cor mocked, sarcasm dripping from his words. 

“I’m very thankful she decided to side with us,” Regis said, weary. 

This morning had been some sort of hellish nightmare. Drautos being Glauca was a heavy blow. Witnessing Ayame’s abilities had been somewhat frightening. And once Glauca had confessed, she dragged the rest of the moles from Kingsglaive in and wrenched the truth from them. 

Regis’ dungeons were quite full. Glauca had sunk his hands in deep and over 50% of Kingsglaive was compromised. 

Now Regis was left with a mess to fix; his elite forces were gutted. “I supposed now is as good as any to see if we can’t root out the rest of the traitors,” he said grimly. 

He always known the corruption in his court was bad. Had known it back when his own father was in power. Yet he never been able to stamp it out. Now to see how far it reached… disheartening. 

“Did she ever show that kind of ability during the two weeks?” Regis asked. 

Fighting ability, magic ability, that was all one thing. But summoning back the dead? On top of that being able to hurt them? Not to mention her comfort with torturing Drautos. It was all necessity, but stepping back, the fact that Ayame, the same age as Noctis, had done it was very jarring. 

“Nothing like that,” Cor said. “She prefers flashy explosions and chaos. This was different.” 

“Makes you wonder what her world must be like for her to have that skill set,” Clarus said dryly. 

That was a sobering thought. Regis didn’t like the idea of child soldiers. Not matter how skilled Cor was, his father should have never allowed Cor into Crownsguard at age thirteen. 

There was a knock on the door and Noctis peeked his head in. “Dad?” he asked warily. “Is there a reason why Ayame took Nyx and said she’ll back in a couple days?”

Regis sighed, motioning for Noctis to come in. “Take a seat, son. It’s a long story.” 

Noctis took a seat, concern written all over his place. 

There was no other way to put it. “Drautos is General Glauca. He’s dead and over 50% of Kingsglaive has been compromised,” Regis said. 

“ _What.”_ Noctis gripped his seat arm tight, knuckles going white as he stared at Regis with wide eyes. 

“Ayame took one look at him, apparently knew he was Glauca and forced the truth out of him,” Regis said. 

She had been ‘sparking’ by the time they were done with the last Kingsglaive interrogation. The look in her eyes when she said she would taking a few days outside of Insomnia, Regis easily agreed. Whatever she had done to bring Drautos’ ghost back, it apparently had an effect on her. 

“They’ve all been arrested,” Regis said. “And tomorrow, we’ll start combing through Crownsguard to see if we can find anymore.” 

“What about the rest of Kingsglaive?” Noctis asked. 

“Majority of them are on mandatory rest,” Clarus said heavily. “Glauca confessed all of his conspirators, but we’ll have to check the rest of them just to be thorough. It’s going to be a long investigation.” 

“And who is going to take Drautos’ position,” Noctis asked.

Regis shared a look with Cor and Clarus. “Nyx,” the three of the chorused together. 

“He’s a bit young,” Clarus said. “But he was Drautos’ second in command for a reason. It was going fall to him eventually. This is just a bit earlier than expected.” 

“You were younger when you took over Crownsguard,” Regis pointed out. 

Nyx wasn’t that young, all things considered. Regis had been young when he succeeded as King, even younger when he was leading an army during the Great War. 

What mattered was Nyx was a good leader, when he didn’t get so wrapped up in playing the cocky hero. Regis was sure he would grow well into that role as Captain of Kingsglaive. 

“Ayame took Nyx?” Cor asked. 

Noctis nodded. “Yeah. She said you would be busy.” 

“Yeah, this is going to be a nightmare,” Cor agreed. “At least she was still sane enough to take someone with her.” 

“Is she okay?” Noctis asked. 

“One thing I learned about Ayame is she’s got a very loose definition of sane and safe,” Cor said. “This is as ‘okay’ as she’s probably going to be.” 

-.-.-

Noctis rested his head against the table, not caring that he was probably getting ink all over his face. 

It had been two days since Ayame and Nyx departed, two days since his father’s clean up had gone into effect. It was startling to see how many people were arrested. Something told Noctis that Ignis had a subtle hand in it as well. 

Noctis on the other hand, chose to lock himself in his room and practice. 

The book had called for a brush and ink and Noctis to the best of his ability followed each stroke step by step. He was a little halfway into the notebook he was practicing in, barely a thousand times done for the barrier character. It would have been more, but Ayame had stressed neat characters and Noctis first hundred or so had been badly misshapen. 

“You okay there, buddy?” 

Noctis lifted his head to see Prompto leaning over him. “Yeah,” he said tiredly. “No work today?”

The first thing Noctis did once graduation was done was ensure that Prompto had proper clearance to enter and leave the Citadel at all times. It had been easy enough to do. Prompto had, after all, passed all of his background checks years earlier, back when they had become friends. 

Noctis had been required to move back into the Citadel from his apartment. That had been the original agreement with his father to get the apartment in the first place. Plus, as he gained more duties, it didn’t exactly make sense to live outside of the Citadel. (Likewise, this was why Ignis and Gladio had rooms here too. There were simply too many appointments to keep worrying about travel.) As a result, Noctis lost a place a to meet Prompto that didn’t require a guard like going to the arcade would. For that same reason, going to visit Prompto’s house wouldn’t be a long term possibility. Thus getting Prompto full access to visit the Royal Wing whenever he want had been absolute necessity. 

He had done it mostly by declaring Prompto as part of his retinue. Not that he told Prompto. He wasn’t really sure if Prompto really wanted that, but his dad had just knowingly smile and approved the paperwork, so Prompto had full access and that was really all that mattered. 

“No work,” Prompto said. “Thought I would swing by to see how you’re holding up. Why is security extra tight?” 

“We found traitors,” Noctis said bluntly. “Lots of arrests have been made.” 

“Fuck,” Prompto swore, upset. “That bad?” 

“Yeah.” 

Noctis did not envy his dad right now. It must be a total nightmare.

“So what are you doing?” Prompto asked. 

“Ayame assigned homework,” Noctis said with a groan. “Write five thousand times the character for ‘barrier’.” 

He thought he was done with homework. 

“Need help with that?” Prompto asked. 

“You don’t have to,” Noctis said, guilty. “We can play video games or put on a movie. It’s your day off and I could use the break.” 

Prompto snorted. ‘Yeah right. You mentioned in your text that she could be back by tomorrow and there’s no way you got five thousands version of this character.” 

He didn’t. But Prompto didn’t have to point it out. 

“C’mon, Noct. Let me help,” Prompto said. He grabbed a brush and another blank notebook. 

“Sure,” Noctis said, giving in. It wasn’t like Ayame would know. He was sure it wouldn’t take him another 4,000 times to perfect this character. It looks more or less like the one in the notebook. “But if you get sick of it, don’t worry about it.” 

“Nah, what kind of best friend would I be if I left you high and dry?” Prompto said with a grin. 

“You’re the best, Prompto,” Noctis said fondly. 

“I’m thinking of joining Crownsguard when they open applications in the fall,” Prompto said abruptly.

“Wait, what? What happened to touring around the country and taking the pictures?” Noctis asked. That had been Prompto’s dream. 

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking really hard about that,” Prompto said. “Have been for a couple weeks now. The best part about doing that would be if you, Ignis and Gladio could come along. And well-” he gestured to all of Noctis, “-you’re a prince. That’s kinda a security nightmare.” 

“That doesn’t mean you can’t-” 

Prompto cut him off. “I might have done it, except there’s a prophecy about you.”

Noctis was stumped. What did that have to do with anything? 

“I want to help _you_ , Noct. I can take pictures wherever I am, but I like the idea of you living way more, dude,” Prompto said. “I don’t really know how I can help; I’m not smart like Iggy or some peak of physical prowess like Gladio, but I figured Crownsguard would be a good first step.”

“I declare you as part of my retinue,” Noctis blurted out. 

“W-What?” Prompto asked, stunned. 

“It was the easiest way to get you full access visiting rights,” Noctis said. “I just didn’t tell you because I wasn’t really sure if you wanted that. I wanted you to follow your dreams instead of tying yourself to me-”

“I want to tie myself to you,” Prompto said firmly. 

Noctis felt his heart burst with love. He had the best friends ever. 

“Okay,” Noctis said, voice tight with emotion. “That means if you want, you don’t have to wait until the fall to join Crownsguard. Though you might want to, just because that’s when they offer beginner classes. On the other hand, you keep showing up to Ayame’s training sessions and you’ll outpace most of Crownsguard in no time.” 

“She is a tyrant, isn’t she?” Prompto said. 

“Cor kicks my ass all the time,” Noctis said miserably. “Ayame just curbstomps me. I’m pretty sure if you survive her training, Crownsguard training is going to be a piece of cake.” 

“No doubt,” Prompto said. “I guess we should finish these characters before she comes back and decides to kick your ass for not finishing.” 

Right. Four thousands more to go. 

“You’re the best, Prompto.”

“Anytime, Noct.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sips tea* good bye Drautos. 
> 
> Admittedly, this wasn't how I originally intended to solve this issue, no that's a lie. This was how I intended to solve it, just not now. lol Poor Nyx, he has no idea what he agreed to. And now the groundwork for Prompto has been set. 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out :D


	12. Chapter 12

Everything fucking hurt. 

Nyx didn’t even know that you could feel an ache in your bones. There were muscles he didn’t know existed that were screaming in pain. 

He was tired and still a little wet, covered in dirt, dust, grim and Astrals know what else. Probably blood. Probably daemon sludge. Maybe even-! 

“You look like hell,” Ayame said, interrupting his thought process.

Nyx leveled a glare at her. “I hate you.” 

“Cor said the same thing all the time.”

The Marshal was clearly the smarter person here. 

“Did you need another elixir?” Ayame asked. 

No. Nyx wanted a shower and a bed. And a real meal beyond roasted sabertusk meat, cup of noodles and ration bars. 

Ayame rolled her eyes and tugged his hand. 

And scenery swapped again. 

Nyx groaned, wondering where they ended up now. 

“Ayame. Sir Ulric.” 

Nyx blinked, looking up to see King Regis looking down at them from his throne. 

“We’re back in Insomnia,” Nyx said flatly. 

Ayame snorted. “You looked like you were ready to snap. I figured I should bring you back.” 

Nyx did sometimes get the urge to drive his kukuris into her. 

“And how are you holding up, Ayame?” King Regis asked. 

“I no longer feel like I want to rip people’s heads from their bodies,” Ayame said dryly. 

“Gee, I wonder why,” Nyx muttered. Given the way she tore apart over thousands of enemies these last four days, she must have finally gotten it out of her system. 

King Regis just looked amused. “And how much chaos and destruction did you cause?” 

“Not that much,” Ayame protested. “Galahd is secured.” 

That, was the one good thing about going with her. The first thing they had done on the second day was weed out all of Niflheim’s soldiers in Galahd. He was grateful to her for doing that. But…

“We fought an Adamantoise,” Nyx said flatly. He didn’t even know that there was an Adamantoise living on Galahd, disguised as one of the mountains. He thought those giant turtles were a story that his mother used to tell him. 

“Didn’t kill it,” Ayame said, a touch regretful. “We did bring back some of its shell. Seems like a fascinating material.” 

King Regis nodded. “Adamantoises are a bit hard to kill.” 

...Why did it sound like he was speaking from experience? And plural? There were more Adamantoises around? Where? Nyx was never going to trust another mountain at this rate. 

Wasn’t there a big lone mountain in Leide? Longwythe Peak? Was that an Adamantoise? 

“He lacks finesse, but he wasn’t that bad,” Ayame said. “Assuming I guessed correctly and that you’ll have Nyx here solve your Kingsglaive issue.” 

“What Kingsglaive issue?” Nyx asked, automatically latching onto that. They were gone for four days. What could have happened? 

“Did you tell him?” King Regis asked. 

“No,” Ayame said. 

Getting a straight answer from her was like pulling water from a stone. 

Nyx could hear the alarm bells going off in his head. 

King Regis sighed. “I’m afraid you missed some of the chaos, Sir Ulric. Things gotten shaken up, starting with it was discovered shortly before you left with Ayame, that Captain Drautos was really General Glauca.” 

“What. No. That’s impossible,” Nyx said. There was no way his mentor was a traitor. 

“We’ve seen the proof,” King Regis said, looking so very tired. “And discovered that Drautos compromised over half of Kingsglaive in the process.” 

Astrals. Nyx felt sick to his stomach. 

“Your friends are clear,” King Regis said. 

Thank Ramuh for small blessings. 

“And with the shakedown in Kingsglaive, I issued a sweep across the entire Citadel, including Crownsguard,” Regis said. “We've been running on a skeleton crew and the investigation is still in full swing.”

“It also means we need a new Captain of Kingsglaive.” 

It clicked. “You want me to be the new captain,” Nyx said, mouth dry. 

King Regis smiled at him kindly. “If you wish to accept it, yes. Though if Galahd is secure, I won't begrudge you if you simply wish to return home as it was originally promised. That is assuming Galahd can remain secure?” he directed the last question to Ayame. 

Ayame shrugged. “We chased out all traces of Niflheim. Overall, between these two trips, we gutted approximately 62% of their army. Their upper echelons is still in tact, but they have no manpower. So it isn't like they can launch an invasion any time soon. People can return to Galahd, but if they can't defend themselves in the long term, I wouldn't recommend it. Niflheim will recover eventually, maybe not for another decade but they will.” 

Regis nodded. “It will be something to discuss. We hardly have the manpower as well. And the decision will fall into Nyx's hands.” 

“Me?” Nyx asked. 

“Your father was chief. Had Galahd not fallen, you would have inherited his position,” Regis said. 

Nyx jolted. He had nearly forgotten that. His father had died when Nyx was young, in one of the first attacks by Niflheim. He was so young that the role of chief had fallen to his father's best friend, until Nyx would have been old enough to lead. Except Galahd burned and Nyx was just one of the survivors left. 

He swallowed thickly, emotions a blurry mess. Galahd. It had been a long time since Nyx even thought of his home. The idea of going back seemed like an impossibility, given what Nyx had witness from fighting on the front lines. 

It hadn't even registered as a possibility to go back, after he and Ayame had destroyed the last of Niflheim in Galahd. 

Nyx was at a loss for words. 

“Take your time,” King Regis said. “Whether you accept the position, return to Galahd or do neither, it is up to you. In the meantime, you look like you could use some food and a shower. Get some rest, Nyx.” 

Numbly, head spinning, Nyx nodded. 

-.-.-

Nyx barely stepped out the Kingsglaive’s locker, freshly cleaned before the first person pounced on him. 

“Nyx!” 

“Ignis,” Nyx said wearily. He liked Ignis but right now he wasn't in any mood to deal with anyone. 

Ignis held out a bento box to him. “It looks like Ayame put you through the same ringer as she did Cor, eat this.” 

Nyx blinked, accepting the bento box. “How did you even know I was back in order to cook this?” 

Ignis pushed up his glasses. “I have an early warning system.”

Nyx opened the bento box. “Ooo, Grease Monkey's Schnitzel Sandwiches.” He picked one up and took a bit. Nyx let out a content sigh. Ignis’ cooking was great. He felt some of his exhaustion wash away. 

“Thanks Ignis,” Nyx said. 

“Let me know if you want more,” Ignis said. “And when you have the strength for it, do let Noctis know you're in one piece. He worries and Ayame's definition of “he's fine” doesn't always line up with our definition of ‘fine’.” 

“Is she always like that?” Nyx asked. 

“I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific,” Ignis said. 

“Just… everything,” Nyx said. He was pretty sure she wasn't really that sane. The last four days had been so crazy. 

“If you mean her ability to answer your question without explaining anything, yes,” Ignis said. “If you meant her fighting prowess, yes. She makes Cor's training sessions look like beginner Crownsguard lessons. I assume you and Cor would have an even clearer picture of that.” 

Definitely. Absolutely. Putting aside the Adamantoise, the fucking Psychomancer alone was a bloodied nightmare. Ayame threw herself into that battle, cackling.

“She has been a bloody whirlwind of chaos since we met her and does things seemingly at her own whim. Frustratingly, she does have a nice logical reasoning as to why she did it, but pulling that reasoning from her is a test in patience,” Ignis said. 

“Maddening but a friend, huh?” Nyx said, picking on the fondness woven into Ignis’ frustrated tone. 

“Exactly,” Ignis said, rubbing his temples. 

“Nyx!” 

Nyx tried not let out a weary sigh. There was Libertus, Crowe and Pelna headed towards him. He knew that they weren’t going to let him rest any time soon. Apparently it was too much to ask for a bed. 

“I’ll leave you with your friends, Nyx,” Ignis said, amused. 

“Is the training yard that Noctis and I use open?” Nyx asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Is it secure?” Nyx asked. If he was going to deal with his friends, he wanted privacy. The training yard he taught Noctis in was in the Royal Wing and under the highest security. 

Ignis’ eyes flash. “Ah, yes. It’s as secure as you can you get. Though with Ayame back, there are no promises you’ll remain alone.”

“She owes me,” Nyx said. 

“Yes, but good luck with getting her to do what you want,” Ignis said. 

“Nyx!” Crowe said. She gave a quick bow of acknowledgement. “Lord Scientia.” 

“At ease, Dame Altius. Hello Sir Khara, Sir Ostium,” Ignis said. “I’ll leave Nyx in your hands.” 

“Thanks again for the food, Ignis,” Nyx said, waving as Ignis left. 

“He gave you food?” Libertus asked, eyeing the bento box suspiciously. 

“If I wasn’t starving I would offer you some and you’ll realize how much of a treat that really is,” Nyx said. The only time Nyx got to taste Ignis’ cooking usually was after his lessons with Noctis. Ignis would normally make a snack, insisting Nyx sit down and eat before he left. 

Nyx was never one to turn down food. 

Then he got somewhat addicted to Ignis’ food. Sure it wasn’t anything like Galahd, but compared to the other Lucian dishes he had tasted, Ignis was a cut above the rest. 

“We just found out you were back,” Pelna said. “How did he know early enough that he had time to cook for you?” 

“Pretty sure it was Ayame,” Nyx said flatly. “Come on. I know you three got questions and the sooner I answer them, the sooner I can find a flat surface to crash on.” 

His three friends shared a look, but followed him down the hallways and up several floors. 

“Err, isn’t this the Royal Wing?” Pelna said.

“Yeah, I got permission to bring you guys here. It’s as secure as it’s gonna get. I’m not discussing this in my apartment and it isn’t as open as Kingsglaive lockers where who knows who could be listening,” Nyx said. 

He opened the door to the training room, ushering them inside.

“So what happened while I was gone?” Nyx asked, once they were inside the training room. 

“A purge,” Crowe said. “Drautos was General Glauca apparently. Half of Kingsglaive was arrested, a quarter of Crownsguard and way more nobles than we could count.”

“At first we thought it was a target against Kingsglaive,” Pelna said. “We’re not the most well liked group.”

“But when nobles started getting arrested, it was pretty clear, things were being shaken up,” Libertus said. “About time, if you ask me.” 

“Libs, I know how you feel. And I’m just going to remind you that we’re in the Royal Wing so shut it.” Nyx irritably glared at his best friend. The last thing he needed was Noctis (who was mostly like somewhere in the Royal Wing) to overhear. The kid’s self-worth was pretty battered in Nyx’s opinion and Nyx wasn’t going to let Libertus add more weight on Noctis. 

Libertus grunted, but wisely didn’t say anything.

Nyx resisted the urge to sigh himself. He got it. Libertus had every right to be angry. They had been fighting for so damn long on what seemed like an impossible promise. He knew, Libs knew, they all knew that slowly but surely they had been losing this thrice damn war. Libertus had every right to be angry, but blaming King Regis and Noctis for it wasn’t the damn answer either. 

“Yeah, so things are a hot mess,” Pelna said, refocusing the conversation. “Media is going bonkers with reporting, but the evidence, for the ones publicised at least was pretty damning. Glauca’s armor and sword was found in Drautos’ possession, was the final nail in the coffin.”

Fuck. Nyx was still having trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that his mentor, his Captain for all that Drautos was an asshole sometimes, had really been working for Niflheim. As their High Commander no less. 

“Drautos is the only one dead so far though,” Crowe said. “Which I guess make sense if he was Glauca. I wouldn’t take any chances either. But everyone else who has been arrested on treason charges is currently locked up and awaiting trial.” 

“What about those of us who are clean?” Nyx asked. “How are they holding up?”

“Civilians are in shock. Crownsguard has been working overtime like crazy dealing with this mess. A lot of nobles are cowering. Those of us in Kingsglaive have been kinda floating. No one is really sure what to do,” Crowe said. 

“We don’t have a Captain anymore and our second in command was conveniently missing,” Pelna said. 

“Yeah, His Majesty offered me the position of Captain when I got back,” Nyx said. 

“Make sense, you were Drautos’ second,” Libertus said. “Might cause some resentment since you’ve been missing while all this shit was going down. Where the hell did you go?” 

Everywhere was the short answer. But the more important one… “Ayame and I helped free Galahd. It’s secured. His Majesty also gave me the option that if I wanted to, I could claim my birthright and return to Galahd.” 

“ _ **What**_?” Libertus asked. 

“No way,” Pelna said. “I thought there wasn’t the manpower for it.” 

“Ayame is fucking crazy, but she’s apparently a one-woman army,” Nyx said. 

In hindsight, how much of this had been planned? From King Regis’ words, the shitstorm with Drautos had started before they left. Probably actually had to do with why Ayame was so downright furious, given she wasn’t surprised by the news like he was. 

And what…? Once she was calmed down, she guessed that King Regis would name Nyx Captain of Kingsglaive and went about orchestrating the retaking of Galahd so that it would reflect nicely on Nyx? 

Not only was that hell of gutsy, but how much power and self confidence did you have to have in order to be so sure to take on an army with just two people? And in all honesty, Ayame had done a lot of the heavy lifting. Nyx had followed after her to watch her back, but he barely kept up with the insanity and power levels she was throwing around.

(It was like watching King Regis descend on the battlefield with his armiger among Galahd’s burning building. Powerful and awe inspiring.)

(Just who the fuck was Ayame?)

“Birthright?” Crowe asked. 

Right. Crowe actually wasn’t from Galahd. Libertus just adopted her when they arrived to Insomnia, among all the other refugees. 

“Position of chief has been passed down the Ulric family for generations. But my dad died when I was too young, so his best friend took up as regent before Galahd burned,” Nyx said. “Still my birthright though. I could claim Galahd if I wanted to, and His Majesty would recognize me as the legal leader of Galahd.” 

“That’s great! We should go!” Libertus said. 

“Not that simple,” Nyx said. 

“Why not?” Libertus growled. “It was everything we’ve been fighting for! We finally have it!” 

“Because the war isn’t over,” Nyx said. Ayame had a point. 

“Look, Niflheim is still marching strong. They’ve pulled back for now but who knows when they’ll resume again,” Nyx said. “I don’t want to return to Galahd only for it to burn again, Libs. Even if we went back, we don’t have the manpower to protect Galahd. Don’t argue. You know we don’t.” 

Even if King Regis let them keep their magic, the number of Kingsglaive members from Galahd -assuming all of them hadn’t been purged- was far too small. Add in the fact that their magic was conditional to King Regis’ health, it was a boon that wasn’t going to last another generation. (He was sure if asked, Noctis would offer the same during his tenure as King but no… It was an open secret that supporting Kingsglaive and the Wall was draining. Nyx had no desire to wear Noctis down. Galahd would stand on its own or it wouldn’t at all.) 

He had no idea what Ayame was doing for her to confidently say she gutted over 50% of Niflheim’s army. But until he knew more about that, it was too strong of a possibility of Niflheim just recapturing Galahd again. 

Libertus slumped.

Nyx felt for his best friend, his brother. But no. Nyx couldn’t handle Galahd burning again. 

“Not to mention when we do go back, we’re moving the village,” Nyx said. 

“What? Why?!” Libertus asked, sounding hurt. 

“Because the mountain it’s currently sitting at the base at is an Adamantoise,” Nyx said flatly. 

“Adamantoise don’t exist,” Pelna said warily. 

Nyx snorted. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *snicker* So the "Ayame is Crazy" Club is now up to two members. Cor and Nyx! 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out!

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Regis. It doesn't get any better. I mean it does, eventually. But Ayame is kinda a crisis all on her own. 
> 
> For those who followed me from the KHR fandom, just a fyi this isn't wwbtf!Ayame. 
> 
> title is from Lost in Thoughts All Alone 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out.


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